A Kitsune in Nerima
by Fellgrave
Summary: Mito Uzumaki used a different way of defeating the Kyuubi, and Ranma fell in a different spring. What does this mean for the rest of the Nerima Crew?
1. Chapter 1

Alright, here it is, the shiny new reboot for Ranma No Kitsune. As I said in both my profile, and I think, my last note, this story will be the first half, concerning the Ranma-verse. The second story will cover the Naruto-verse. I reworked the back-story, and hopefully this will be much better.

Side-note, at least some slight familiarity with Ah Megami-sama is advised. Also having a functional knowledge of trans-dimensional physics and the associated knowledge of traveling between dimensions and all the problems that come with said traveling would probably help too, though then again, it might not.

Either way, I hope you all enjoy!

And thank you guest for providing editing help, I can't believe I missed some of those errors.

* * *

In the deep dark forests of the Land of Fire, there lies a river. Too wide for most to leap across, and in most places too deep to traverse, it winds its way slowly through the forest near the borders. If one tracked it from its outlet into the sea, like a bird from above, one would see it slowly become covered by thick trees, only showing through in sections where the banks have widened or the trees have been removed to facilitate travel. Eventually though, one would notice the once clear water becoming muddy, as well ever greater amounts of broken branches and pieces of trees.

And then one would come to the source of all the devastation. A section of what had once been utterly pristine and primeval forest had been torn apart in a struggle of what could only be termed two mortal titans, and one decidedly not mortal demon. The heaven's themselves had seen what was occurring and shed great torrents of tears on the battle. On one bank of the river, cradling one arm close to his chest, was Hashirama Senju. His opponent, and the one who had broken his arm, was on the opposite bank and stood serenely, though his breath too was coming out in large heaves. Behind him, towering above the treetops stood the main cause for the massive amounts of destruction, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Madara Uchiha gave his hated foe a death head's grin. "Face it Senju, " He shouted out across the river, his voice filled with bitterness and smug satisfaction, "You've lost. And your _precious _village will pay the price for your failure." When all he received for his declaration was muted laughter that slowly gained in volume, Madara was quite confused.

"What's so funny? Your practically out of chakra, your arm is shattered, and you have no allies to support you. What could you possibly be laughing about?" He demanded angrily, his fists clenching tightly at his sides in an attempt to not only control his anger, but also to hide the fact that he too was out of chakra as well. Hashirama stopped laughing and stared up, straight into Madara's eyes.

"What makes you think I was ever alone?" Madara whirled as he felt a sudden discharge of a large amount of chakra from behind him. Turning he stared open mouthed as an enormous array formed itself around the Kyuubi, the black lines snaking across the demon's fur like living creatures, creatures that the Kyuubi was trying its best to dislodge as it flailed around. Madara spun back to face his foe, only to find him on his feet, supported by yet another face Madara knew only too well.

"You, Uzumaki." He spat out the name like a curse," You did this." The fury in his growled words was palpable, yet Mito Uzumaki simply smiled serenely back at him.

"You might want to turn around Uchiha, or you'll miss the big show." Frowning, Madara tentatively did as she said, knowing that even on her best day she would be no match for him on his worst, unless she managed to set up some of those infernal seals she and her clan were so fond of using. staring at the Kyuubi the first thing he noticed was the lines that formed the seal were converging on a single point on the thrashing Kyuubi's back. Even from a distance he could feel the buildup of chakra at that point, though he wasn't worried, the Kyuubi would be able to shrug off near any attack short of a series of combined barrages of attacks of every element used at once by a very large group of shinobi.

So Madara was completely unprepared for what happened after the last few coils connected. The moment the array was completed the lines lit up with a blue light that outshone even the Kyuubi's own furious crimson energy. Madara watched, near unbelieving, as the seal constricted itself around the Kyuubi, the demon letting out a pained roar as it was crushed smaller and smaller to the point where it simply collapsed upon itself.

The only sound left to the area of destroyed forest was the sound of the falling rain, and the last fast fading echoes of the Kyuubi's final roar of pain, pain mixed with the slightest amount of terror, something that caused even Madara to feel intimidated by. There was only the barest of traces of the Kyuubi's chakra, which meant that either the beast had been slain outright, or more likely, it had been sealed somewhere. In all the possible outcomes he had thought of, losing the Kyuubi utterly like this had never even crossed his mind. This time, when he stared at the Senju and Uzumaki duo he didn't even bother to hide his fury, both of his arms igniting with the last bits of his chakra.

"What have you done Witch!" He shouted furiously at the smirking redhead. "Where is it! Where did you send it!"

Mito calmly stared down the raging Uchiha, her cool smirk serving to further infuriate him. "I sent it somewhere forever beyond reach, beyond even the summon realms. As long as the seal has chakra you will_never _get back the Kyuubi." At her words Madara took a shaking step forwards.

"Then I'll just have to cutoff the chakra at the source then. Killing you should do the trick." Madara's grim smile turned into a frown as he was laughed at.

"Silly Uchiha, I'm not as foolish as to leave the means to breaking such a thing within your reach. No, that seal is designed to feed itself off of the Kyuubi's very own chakra, not just limiting its power, but also serving as the means of its own effective prison. The only way for that beast to ever return will be as a chakra-less corpse."

The scream of utter rage and frustration that was heard that day is forever considered by those who heard it, including some as far as Konoha itself, to be the last cry of the Kyuubi, though a few know differently.

Madara turned his hate-filled eyes to Hashirama's own. "You may have won the battle Senju, but so long as I hold the Kyuubi's contract it will destroy your blasted village. Even if I die before the Kyuubi returns, and it will, there is no perfect seal, it will still destroy everything you hold dear. And you!" He turned his rage towards the cold eyes of the only female present. "I have something very special planned for you and your blasted clan, oh yes. Just you wait, I'll have my revenge soon enough, I swear it."

With that said Madara vanished in a swirl of shadows, leaving his two foes to their own devices, and to their own worries as to what the future might hold.

* * *

In another dimension, far beyond the walls of reality that bound together the Shinobi and Summon realms, the Kyuubi hurtled through the void. What should have happened with the seal would have kept the Kyuubi between dimensions forever, but this time Fate had different plans, as a stray, and quite chaotic at times, dimension crossed paths with the bound Kyuubi.

In the mountains deep within the Land of the Three Kingdoms lay a valley, guarded over at one end by a tremendous peak, and where upon the highest point nested a great phoenix. But that peak is not the important piece, no it is valley itself, for through the valley ran a river fueled by ancient magics and sourced by a spring deep within the mountain.

As the Kyuubi breached the walls of reality, it was forced to bend its own nature to fit that of the laws of its current plane of existence. In effect this forced the demonic creature of pure chakra, an energy which did not exist in such form in this dimension, to become its dimensional analog. What was once an immense fox the size of a small city was made smaller, its form flowing and warping until it became something both similar and yet very different to its old form.

Even though its new form was smaller, it was still traveling at tremendous speeds from breaking through the dimensional walls, and the amount momentum it carried made its impact truly extraordinary. Those as far away the coast would forever swear that it seemed like the night sky itself erupted in a light brighter than the sun itself, following the falling a star from the night sky. Ever after the event the valley would be shunned as a place where God's wrath had fallen, some say it occurred in the smiting of a great demon, others in the destruction of a kingdom that refuted God.

The Kyuubi, stunned by the impact and the experience of breaking through the dimensional fabric of reality, not once but twice, as well unused to the new power that flowed through it's veins, as its chakra had undergone a transformation of its own into its dimensional analog, mana, the essence of pure magic, and ki, pure life energy, that the Kyuubi was completely unable to resist being drowned by the magic infused water that now was forced to bubble up in the form of myriad springs. The last thing the living eyes of the Kyuubi saw was the sky being covered up by opaque water, then darkness.

* * *

In Nifelheim, Daimakaichō Hild was dealing with the usual paperwork that came with her position, when one of her priority alarms in the Nidhogg system activated. Startled, she didn't hesitate in bringing up a terminal to find out what was going on. To her surprise, and excited joy, a powerful demon from another dimension had somehow stumbled into her little portion of the multi-verse and had gotten itself in a bit of trouble.

Smiling wildly Hild dismissed the terminal and teleported herself towards the location of the trans-dimensional demon's essence on the Astral Plane. As she was traveling she pondered this latest development. According to the Grand Plan, Jusenkyo wasn't due to be created for another century, and its creation would cost her one of her more powerful generals, which meant that she owed this dimension traveler a boon in some form.

Arriving in the section of the Astral Plane that overlapped the newly formed Jusenkyo Hild was pleased to see that it still held only its first victim. Smirking, Hild smoothed down her ,ultra-tight, business suit and approached. As she got closer she gave the other demon an appraising look, taking in the nine silver furred fox tails and the pair of fox like ears perched at the top of her head, as with that body it was quite obviously a her, a fact only reinforced by the current lack of clothing.

The raven haired kitsune was looking around herself in a quite confused manner, interspersed with the occasional wondering glance down at her own body. Hild found it quite amusing, as it meant that the demon in front of her had a different form and had been forced to adjust to this reality's rules. Clearing her throat she caught the complete attention of the kitsune, as her head snapped around to face Hild and the kitsune's tails all went rigid. Seeing that she had her target's focus Hild started speaking.

"If your quite done, I have a proposition for you. Oh, but where are my manners. My name is Hild, though most prefer to call me by my title, the Daimakaichō. Now how am I to address you?" She wasn't surprised when the newcomer didn't seem to recognize the significance of her title, though she was a trifle worried when the kitsune drew in upon herself, clutching her knees close to her chest as she fought several large body-wracking shakes, murmuring to herself so quietly that Hild had to strain her ears to catch her words.

"No more, no more anger. No more, no more hatred, it's all gone. Uhah, all gone now. I can, I can think clearly now. Maybe, maybe this is what **he** meant all those years, ages, ago." The kitsune turned her piercing red eyes to Hild's own amethyst, not shaking at all from the weight that gaze held. "I-I don't have a name, none of us did, until he gave us our own. But I'm not me anymore, or, maybe I'm more myself than I was before. But I still don't have a name, can you help me?"

Hild took a deep breath at the surprisingly innocent question. Apparently, the change of realities had altered more than just the demon's body, and it had done so in quite an interesting way. But, Hild was not one to pass up an oportunity, and if she gave this demon a name, a true name, then the Ultimate Force itself would enforce it, binding the demon's essence and her true name together in manners beyond even the Almighty's ken, as well as giving Hild incredible power over the Kitsune. Hild gave the a look to the surroundings as she thought of what to name the demon. Spying the clouds open up above them, and the dark rain fall like little chunks of glittering obsidian in the darkness of the evening, she had her answer.

"Little kitsune, I have a name for you, if you are willing to take it." She said quietly. The Kitsune in question popped her head up immediately from where she had once again been resting it against her drawn up knees.

"Really? You would do that for me?" The Kitsune asked breathlessly. She got to her feet so quickly that she blurred from sight, before latching onto the Daimakaichō, wrapping her small arms as tightly as she could around the ruler of Hell. "Oh, Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Hild gave the Kitsune a tender smile and pat on the head. While she did so, the manner of the payback for the favor she owed also presented itself. "Now little kitsune, I came to thank you. You helped me greatly, however accidentally, and I would like to repay you for that. And so, upon the first worthy mortal stumbling into your drowned spring, your soul will be released from the chains of magic that bind it. How does that sound, little Amaya?"

If the back-breaking embrace Hild recieved was anything to go by, then Amaya was in full support of Hild's offer. As Hild tentatively patted the energetic and overly-enthusiastic kitsune on the back, she was already thinking of how long she should wait before letting someone fall into Amaya's spring. Eventually she gave a mental shrug, after all a solution would most likely present itself in due time and there was no use in trying to force it. Though, giving the exuberant Kitsune a look out of the corner of her eyes, maybe waiting a bit wouldn't be a bad thing.

* * *

Several centuries later, in a little somewhat out-of-the-way town in Japan, a town infamous for what most consider to be either urban legends or extreme exaggerations, there was an unusual amount of peace. Today the general collateral destruction was actually at a minimum, what damage there was due to more conventional causes, such as a rampaging youma that had strayed through one of the eastern streets for a few minutes before heading back into towards Minato ward, or the less common spirit beast that roamed in from Karakura Town.

The main reason for this uncharacteristic lack of what can easily be termed utter chaos could be traced back to one person, or perhaps to the absence of any save the aforementioned person. Ranma Saotome, seventeen year-old highschool student, as well as what could easily be termed Galactic-level martial artist, easily surpassing nearly all earth's inhabitants in pure skill, was watching TV in the home of the Tendo family.

This in and of itself was not unusual. What was quite unusual was the fact that he was, for essentially the first time in his life, completely alone, not even his father being present. This was due to the fact that his family, as well as the Tendo family, had decided a relaxing trip to the beach to unwind was in their best interests, and the only way they would be sure to get any relaxation out of it would be to leave Ranma behind, which they did.

And of course upon hearing of the planned vacation, the rest of Nerima's most dangerous, the town not having a most wanted list since it was considered suicidal to commit a crime with Ranma nearby, had packed up to follow, thinking that Ranma would be along for the ride as well. And thus, Ranma was treated to what he considered to be easily to most relaxing day in his life to date. Which, all things considered, is pretty sad for him.

The day was winding down to a close and Ranma felt hungry. Now he _could _make himself something, but he didn't want to disrupt Kasumi's meticulously kept kitchen when she was gone. Instead he picked up one of the phone books lying around, there were several as they could be used to block Mousse's occasional (often) missed throws. Leafing through it easily he randomly picked a restaurant from the page he stopped on, smiling when he found that it was the listing for an Italian place, if the name was anything to go by.

Holding the phone book open to the number with his one hand Ranma used his other to pick up and dial the phone. The number rang a couple of times before it was picked up, the voice on the other end responding with a very clear Italian accent.

_"Ciao, ottimi ristoranti di Giacomo, come posso aiutarla? Oh mi perdoni, this Giacomo's fine dining. How may I helpa you today?"_ Ranma looked down at the page he found there was a small menu beneath the number. He decided to go relatively small, for him at least, as he wasn't sure if he could cover it with the money he had, well not if wanted to keep himself fed for the rest of the families' four-day break that is.

"Uh, could I get a large spaghetti and a medium ravioli?" It would be a shame if he didn't finish everything but this way he was mostly assured of success. If anything he could wrap up the rest of the ravioli and put it in the fridge for later.

_"Bene, la consegna è gratuita al tuo indirizzo. Again mi pardoni, delivery will be ina five-a minutes. Enjoy your meal mister Saotome." _There was a click as the man at the other end of the line hung up the phone, leaving Ranma confused as to how the guy knew his name without him introducing himself, or where to deliver the meal to either.

Exactly four minutes and fifty-nine seconds after Ranma phoned in his order there came a knock from the door exiting towards the yard. Before Ranma could get up to answer, as he had gotten a little bit out of sorts when the knock came from an unexpected source, the door slid open and the delivery person entered. Although, considering who it was, more than just food was being delivered.

Daimakaichō Hild couldn't resist a predatory smile as she stepped through the newly opened door. Ever since she had first heard about the kid, mainly from her status reports of her agents earth-side and their failures against the child, she had been very interested in him/her. But hearing that the mortal had not only taken on but _slain _a god, even a low class 3, put things in a whole new perspective. A quick conversation with Kami-sama and a little mortal world meddling later and everything was set for her to personally reward a mortal who had managed to eliminate a thorn in both her and Kami-sama's sides..

Ranma turned to face the intruder into the Tendo home and his brain experienced a temporary short circuit, at least until his back-up programs came online. First one to come up was the basic identification system, which instantly checked faces against his memories, a system that had been developed through necessity in order to avoid repeats of Ryoga's or Ukyo's first introductions. And when he received a match, though it was only partial with his current state of mind it registered as complete, he opened his mouth and said this first thing that came to him.

"Urd-chan, you do deliveries now?" Hild blinked, before an interested gleam came into her eyes. Her reports on the boy had never mentioned that he had met her daughter, hmm, that meant someone had either lied to her or wasn't doing their job right. Well finding out who and punishing them could wait till later, for now she had a job to do.

"Sorry dear, but while I'm flattered, I don't think my daughter would appreciate being confused with me." Chuckling, she walked over and took a seat next to Ranma, who was starting to look a trifle nervous. "Oh don't be like that. Your far too young for me and I doubt Urd, or her father for that matter, would appreciate me setting you up with her so you can relax."

Seeing the somewhat skeptical look on Ranma's face she chuckled, before clapping her hands and settling into a more serious expression. "Now to business. You may not know it, but you did many people a great service in eliminating that Phoenix God a little while ago. And those people, though some try hard not to admit it, feel they owe you something, hence my presence here."

Ranma tensed slightly as Hild leaned closer towards him, her bust straining against the modest, for her at least, confines of her black Lycra business suit. While Ranma did have a well built-up tolerance for the female body, thanks in part due to the fact that he possessed one of his own, eliminating part of the mystery surrounding it to most of the male persuasion, he was still a fully functional teenager. He swallowed loudly and licked suddenly too dry lips before speaking, his voice cracking a little and forcing him to wince.

"Wel-well that's nice, I suppose. So what does that have to do with you?" Hild smiled toothily at the uncomfortable martial artist, though she wasn't about to seduce the boy, it still felt good to know that she still had the skill to produce such an effect, after all she had used those skills a lot with Urd's Father. But now was not the time to reminisce, she had work to do.

"Ah, you see, I'm here to grant you a wish. Ah-buh-buh, "Hild put a manicured finger over Ranma's mouth as he opened it to protest. "This is not like that wishing sword that Kuno brat obtained, nor is like those tales of enscorcelled Djinn or that blasted Spells R' Us store either. This is a full, no limits, no catch, anything you want wish."

Ranma sat back as he tried to take it in. As he thought about it, he also thought of what he might have wished if he gotten the chance with the wishing sword too. The first thing that came to mind was, of course, getting rid of the curse. But if he did that then he would end up screwed, quite literally, and dead all too soon for his liking. His mother would take advantage of the fact that he no longer had the 'unmanly curse' as she put it, and would most likely quickly get started on assembling him his own harem, no matter his protests. And then there was the fact that if knowledge that he had found a cure and not shared it, he would probably end up lying in a ditch somewhere, dead from either his father, Mousse, Ryoga, or a combination of the three.

The next thing he considered was wishing that he had never come to the dojo or gone to Jusenkyo, but if didn't go to Jusenkyo then he wouldn't have run into the Amazons and he would never have gotten their cool techniques, even with all the trouble they had caused him. If he wished that he had never come to the dojo then he still would have the Amazons, Ukyo, and Ryoga after him, and he would probably have another fiancé that he and his pops would be living with, who knows maybe she would be worse than Akane, though he couldn't quite imagine it, the only thing coming to mind being the strange image of a girl with bubblegum pink hair, a tendency to screech at a high pitch and be as physically abusive as Akane, if not worse, if that was at all possible.

And if simply wished that he had never gone on that training trip, then who knows what kind of Happosai act-alike he would have turned out as with his mother in charge of raising him, though he might have ended up with a younger sibling if his father had stuck around... No thinking along those lines would only lead to madness, for along that path lies the thoughts of his parents doi-ACK! No, that was quite enough of that.

Hild watched with amusement as various expressions ran across the boys face. With all the surprisingly deep thinking going on, the nature of what she was doing allowing her to temporarily read the pig-tailed boy's surface thoughts, Hild was quite pleased. She, as well as nearly all of Nifelheim and Asgard, had bet quite a bit on him instinctively wishing for a cure to his curse, and she was surprised when he ruled it out on his own. She had been told that she was not allowed to grant it for exactly the same reasons that the boy had come up with himself, which both stunned and impressed her to no end. Considering that fact, she decided that maybe he could use a little bit of aid, although she was tempted to let him keep going on his own, those thoughts about his parents and his reaction to said thoughts were quite amusing.

"If I might make a suggestion," Ranma's head snapped up to Hild's as blue eyes met amused amethyst. "How about you wish, and this is only a suggestion mind you, to go back and fall into a different spring, maybe one that would be of more use to a man of your, particular talents."

Ranma opened his mouth for a moment to respond, before closing it and instead considering the suggestion. If he was going to have to deal with his problems, then having some kind of ace in the hole would be handy, like Taro or Rouge with their transformations. And maybe things would be different if he wasn't considered a total perv thanks to a different curse. He smiled as he nodded to himself.

"I think I'll do that, though I get ta keep my moves n' stuff right?" Hild considered the question before mentally firing off a query along her uplink to the Nidhogg system. When the response returned, mere microseconds after she had sent her request, she gave a smile of her own.

"You will keep your moves and, 'stuff', as you refer to it, but you won't have access to them right away. You will still have to earn them. I trust that is an acceptable caveat however?" Ranma gave a moment's consideration before nodding. "Wonderful, now if you will take my hand we can be on our way." She offered the mentioned hand which Ranma took with a slight bit of trepidation. Hild smirked, and then the two of them vanished in a swirl of shadows.

* * *

Ranma blinked and as he took in his surroundings he received an unhealthy dose of déjà vu and vertigo. It took a moment to recover from the sudden change of locale, but when he had recovered and had taken a bit of time to observe his current environment, he felt more than a little bit off at seeing his own, younger, body entering the valley of Jusenkyo with his father.

Jaw dropped, he turned to face a smirking Hild. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped when Hild put a finger to her lips and gestured to the valley below them. Ranma turned back and watched, with more than a little bit nostalgia, as he and father ignored the guide's warnings and began to fight, leaping from bamboo pole to bamboo pole. He smirked as he watched his younger self slip a palm strike under his father's guard and send him plummeting into the spring of drowned panda.

His father, now panda, leapt out of the spring and just as he was about to take advantage of the younger Ranma's stunned state, everything froze. Confused, Ranma looked over to Hild with a questioning look. " We've reached the point of divergence, which means time has stopped until the last parts of your wish are registered. Now, do you have any preference towards the spring you want fall into? Because if you don't I have a wonderful option for you, its called the spring of Drown Amorous Oversexed Nymphomaniac."

Ranma shuddered, before ignoring Hild's suggestion and the images that came to mind, instead thinking the other possibilities over before answering. "Uh, something strong would be nice, but I don't want to end up gettin chased around Tokyo cus people think I'm a monster or anything. Watching Taro get thrown around by those chicks in Juuban on the evening news is as close as I wanna get to that." He and Hild shared a chuckle at the image his words produced.

Hild pondered his statement a while, checking off a list of the springs mentally as she considered each of them. Then, like the proverbial light-bulb being switched on, she had an idea. She could hardly find anyone more worthy to end up in the spring, Ranma would remain human like in appearance, at least enough to blend in with society and any extra parts could be explained away as cosplay to any curious Japanese, and she could have fun screwing with everyone. It was a win-win situation, but first though...

Ranma blinked as he felt a strange draining feeling come over him. It was odd it was almost like that time with... that time he... Okay now he was sure something was up because he couldn't remember certain things, things which he knew were important like the name of that guy who kidnapped... "What the hell?" He locked furious blue eyes with bemused amethyst. "What the hell are you doin ta me?"

Hild regarded him for an instant with such an innocent and pointedly cute expression that Ranma was forced to avert his eyes, lest he gain cavities from the false sweetness. The expression faded into a more genuine smile, tinged with a healthy bit of respect. "Sorry, but your memories will be locked away, at least until the right situation. Its standard procedure for any diverging point in time wish, otherwise things would be in absolute chaos. Don't worry though, you'll get them all back." Ranma relaxed a bit at her explanation, though he couldn't but feel she was leaving something out.

"So now what happe-woah!" Ranma felt himself falling from the sky as whatever that had been supporting him suddenly cutoff. Although, he realized, he wasn't falling straight down, instead he was heading straight towards his younger body. A few seconds later he hit and instead of bouncing off he felt himself flow and merge with his younger body, a truly strange experience for him. He blinked as he felt his senses re-adjust, his disorientation being taken advantage of by his panda-fied father who, instead of simply kicking him into the spring like the first time, grabbed one of his legs and tossed him.

Ranma, expecting the cool sensation, did not immediately panic when he landed in the water. Instead, he calmly and patiently waited for the transformation to hit. He was not disappointed, as he felt the slow tingling sensation start working inwards from his extremities. However, once it reached his core he opened his mouth in a silent scream as every nerve in his body ignited. The waters surrounding him became clouded with bubbles as the water began to boil around him, though it failed to affect him, something that he was not able to notice at the time.

Soon enough the transformation finished and Ranma, in his new body, spent a moment to regain his strength at the bottom of the now dry spring. As he lay at the bottom of the empty crater, he noticed both his father and the Jusenkyo Guide approaching cautiously, the pair obviously wondering and worried about what exactly had caused the spring to react the way it had. Ranma's ears picked up the Guide's words to his father clearly, even over the distance and with the background noise of the valley.

"Aiyah! You son fall in legendary First Spring! No-one fall there, not in all Jusenkyo history!" Ranma's father responded with some unintelligible growls, though they obviously meant something to the guide as he responded as if Genma had been speaking a human tongue. Though, considering how many people must have ended up with various animal based curses it was probably a necessary skill to learn for the job. "No worry, curse undone with hot water. But cure only temporary, you splash with cold water you change again."

Ranma kept his eyes closed as he stood up, ignoring the gasps from the pair as they caught sight of his new form. Walking over to the edge of another spring, moving by memory and feel, he leaned over and steeled himself before opening his eyes. Taking in his new body he checked off the various details. _Human body? Check. Hair? Hmm, real dark red, almost black, not the worse thing. Eyes? Well a shade darker than Hild's own, and again not too bad. Breasts? Sigh, yep still got them. Damn. Tails an' ears, chec-wai-wha? _Ranma's eye began to twitch as that detail registered.

Ranma checked the reflection again. Yep the tails were still there, same with the pair of fox-like ears perched on his head. Turning his, her, head slowly he was greeted by the sight of nine majestic silvery-white fox tails floating behind him. Oh yeah, someone was gonna pay for this. Again her head turned very slowly, this time facing a sweating and very nervous Panda. The newly born, or reborn, Kitsune slowly bared her fangs in a grim smile. Time for some preemptive payback for all the crap her old man was gonna pull, right?

_**That's right, after all he set up so many of those fiancees for you, its only fair.**_It was a testament to Ranma's self-control that he didn't immediately freak out at the voice that suddenly spoke in his head. **_Oh sorry about that, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Amaya, the former Kyuubi no Kitsune. Now hurry up already before the fat panda over there gets away while you're_**_**distracted.**_

Blinking as she refocused her eyes, Ranma did indeed notice her father attempting to sneak away towards the edge of the valley. Still grinning, Ranma cracked her knuckles before charging forwards. Though she wasn;t quite sure what the voice, what Amaya, had meant by fiancees, Ranma had a bad feeling about it. Easily catching up to her father she lightly tapped him on the shoulder, his entire body going rigid at the contact. Woodenly, the panda-man turned his head, only to force down the unmanly scream that tried to escape from his throat. Pulling a sign out of somewhere, he held up for the guide and his daughter to read.

#_Oh, this is gonna really hurt.# _Ranma nodded, and the panda-man let out a quiet whimper as his daughter started to work him over.

* * *

Meanwhile, within Ranma's mindscape the essence of the Kyuubi was cheering on her new host as she tore into her father. Hild had explained to her earlier that in order for her to escape, the only way would be through merging with another person. After Hild had given Amaya all of Ranma's memories for safe-keeping ,she figured she couldn't have ended up with a better host. And what made it even better, for her at least, was the fact that as Ranma regained his memories, the two of them would slowly merge, though Amaya planned to influence her host somewhat before that occurred.

Summoning a chair and some popcorn, something she had discovered in her host's memories, she sat down to watch the show, letting out a particularly loud cheer as Genma was forced to bend in a way nature did not intend. Well, at least there would be more than enough violence to sate her appetite, and things definitely wouldn't be boring. Who could ask for more?

* * *

Okay first up, the whole dimensional analog thing. Now I realize this might be a touch confusing so I'll try to simplify. Basically in every dimension there are a set of basic rules that Reality will follow, the laws of physics for example. Now this is not true for every dimension, as theorized by the existence of an entire universe made up of anti-matter, which would need possibly entirely opposite laws of physics to exist.

And so if a person like say, the Hulk for instance, were to jump from his dimension into a Dungeons and Dragons dimension, then the nature of his existence would be forced to change, as the Gamma radiation that transformed him does not exist in the D&D dimension. But because the Hulk and his transformation are such an integral part of his character, the energy needed to fuel the transformation would have to be supplied somehow, most likely by some form of demonic possession or deific avatarship.

Why did I do this you may ask? Well it gets me out of having to deal with the whole "Ki vs. Chakra" thing, as well as the whole "Kyuubi = giant living fox-shaped chakra" problem. Plus, this allows me to give the Kyuubi its own unique attacks outside of the bijuu version of the cero. Plus it also allows me to present the Kyuubi as a character outside of the see-something-destroy-something kind.

Second thing, Hild as a plot device. Simply put, I did this because of two reasons: One, I really like Hild. And two, it fits better with Ranma and Naruto then the original. Those of you who read a lot of Ranma fics may have recognized the reference I put in for one of the greatest, in my opinion, Ranma fics out there. There is also another reference to a different fic by a different author within the part where he is considering the outcomes of his possible wishes and if he had never gone on the training trip.

Anyway, I'll see you all later,

Fellgrave out.

* * *

OMAKE : I've been reading too much Nyotai-ka lately, and just got to this scene in chapter 23. I know its not much but... : OMAKE

Kyuubi-Ranma staring down a group of men who were attacking a young lady.

"The time for your punishment has come! In the name of Inari-sama!"

"AIIIIIEEEEEEE_EEEEEEEE!"_

Ranma standing over the twitching bodies. Meanwhile Hild looks down upon the scene, the goddess Nandikesvara next to her. The goddess turns to Hild.

"I was not aware that _that _technique existed over here."

Hild nods sagely.

"Oh yes, it is the refinement of the Squirrel Maneuver. The legendary Third-Degree Squeeze with a Half-Twist. A truly devastating technique."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo... eep!"_

The goddess shuddered, "Yes it is, I truly pity those mortals, though the genepool will be much better off now."


	2. Chapter 2

*Rubs hands together and cackles madly* SHOWTIME!

* * *

Nerima was a quiet town, for the most part, and quite well known for its higher than average number of martial arts dojos and such. While the people who lived in Nerima were somewhat used to the occasional strange thing that came through town, most of the time it was peaceful, well except for the mornings at Furinkan high school that is.

Of course, said peace was not likely to last much longer, as a young woman, with hair so dark it was nearly black, dressed in a red chinese style shirt and simple black pants, came into town arguing with, of all possible things, a giant panda.

"Dammit Pops! I told you, I **told **you it was gonna rain. But nooo, you just couldn't wait for it ta pass." The redhead grumbled at her pandafied father, who at least had the small amount of grace to sweat a little from the heated glare he was recieving.

_#Sorry boy, but I told my old training buddy that I'd be there today,#_ Flip. #,_and I wanted to get there as soon as possible." _While his response did manage to dim the redhead's anger a little bit, Genma was still keeping a close watch on her out of the corner of his eyes. Meanwhile Ranma was having an argument of a different sort.

_'So how come I'm not totally freaking out about this again?'_ Ranma's question was met with a mental sigh. Ever since he had found out about the fact that the original victim of the spring had somehow ended up in his head, and she outright refused to tell him why, he had been pestering her about everything and anything he could think of.

_**'Because this has already happened to you. Though you are unable to recall it, your subconscious still remembers.'**_Amaya stated the fact robotically, as she had told Ranma many times before.

_'Uhuh, and how come I don't remember any of this? I'm pretty sure something like being turned into a girl would stick in my mind!" _Ranma pointed out triumphantly, hoping to score a point against her kind-of friend.

'**_Its part of the wish you made in the future to go back to past. In order for me to escape the confines of Jusenkyo I had to willingly give up any possiblility of existing separate from you, but in exchange I have your memories and free entertainment_****.' **Amaya's tediously delivered response deflated Ranma quickly.

'_I somehow doubt that I wished to end up as a kitsune but there's not much I can do about that. At least I managed to figure out enough about your abilities to hide the ears and tail, no thanks to you.' _

'_**Oh please, you love me and you know it.'**_Ranma imagined herself sticking her tongue out, causing the former Kyuubi to laugh_. _**_'And its not like I ever needed to disguise myself as a human, so excuse me for not being quite so familiar with transformations like that_****.'**

Ranma heaved an exasperated sigh as she continued following her father. '_I just hope this place were goin to has hot water. The less time I spend, erk, bonding, with you the better.' _Amaya rolled her eyes but refused to dignify Ranma's griping with a response, instead settling in to watch the show as Ranma and her father walked around the corner of the street and saw the dojo a little down the way.

"So Pops, what is it were seeing this buddy of yours about anyway?" The question had been bothering Ranma quite a bit since they had left the hotel earlier that morning, as her father hadn't given a single reason for the sudden decision, and Amaya also refused to give her even a hint of what was going on. Whatever was going on though, had a bad feeling worming its way deep in her gut.

_#Uh, well... You see many years ago, before you were born.# _Another flip of the sign, which Ranma spared a moment to wonder at the origin of, since her father did not possess pockets of any sorts in his current form. _#Me and my good friend Soun decided that we would eventually join our two schools of martial arts into one.#_

Ranma blinked. That actually seemed kind of... Not so bad of her father. Something was wrong with the picture she was seeing. Frowning, she turned a narrowed eyed glare onto her father, who began sweating again. "Okay... So how exactly are you going to do that again?"

Genma gulped, knowing even as he pulled out another sign that he was in for it. If there was ever a time that he wished he had never sealed his two personal set of techniques, it would be now. _#Errr, we agreed that, in order to properly assure the continuation of the schools, we um, decided our children would marry and produce an heir to carry on the school, please don't kill me.#_

Ranma read the words on the sign and froze. Eye beginning to twitch, she read through the sign over again, in order to make sure that she hadn't gotten it wrong. Her control slipping slightly as she bared her far sharper than normal teeth and growled at her father. "Old man, I'm gonna-" Ranma was cut off abruptly as her father stuck another sign in her face.

#_Look! Halley's Comet!# _Ranma opened her mouth to say something but it was shut with a loud click as her father slammed a nearby stop sign into the back of her head. Moving surprisingly quickly for his great bulk, Genma reached down and picked up his son turned daughter, slinging her over his shoulder before running as fast as he could towards his friends dojo. Whatever it was that had drowned in that spring his son had fallen into, it seemed to allow him to heal incredibly fast when in that form.

As he started knocking on the door, he could already feel Ranma beginning to stir on his shoulder. '_Come on Soun, old buddy. Hurry up, hurry up!' _Genma relaxed slightly in relief, though he took care to keep his grip on Ranma tight, when the door began to open, revealing his old friend and a young girl with short brown hair standing there with _very _surprised looks on their faces. As Genma readjusted his grasp on his daughter, the two Tendos panicked and ran back inside. Genma shrugged and followed ponderously after them, his concentration being kept on holding his son-turned-daughter in check.

* * *

**A little while earlier...**

The Tendo family was sitting around the table, the three daughters still slightly stunned by the bomb their father had just dropped. Akane was feeling more than a little bit angry, after all she had been forced to deal with to escape Kuno and his 'affections' and here her father was handing herself over to another boy. Nabiki was massaging her forehead as she considered the trouble that this would bring the family, although, she brightened imperceptibly, this might work to her advantage, as if the boy was as good as her father thought he was, considering he had been on a ten year training trip, then she could probably make more than a little extra cash somehow.

Kasumi simply sat there as she thought about it, as well as thought over her sisters' reactions to the news. Akane's reaction wasn't too surprising, as Kasumi knew about the trouble she was being forced to go through at school, even after she had tried to talk that poor Kuno boy into stopping. Somehow she was sure that her other sister had something to do with that. And speaking of, she could tell that Nabiki had come to a rather poor, in her opinion, decision regarding the boy. Kasumi was quite familiar with both of her sisters and their respective expressions, easily able to tell the various emotions behind them, even with Nabiki's usual frosty business persona that she wore. That familiarity was telling her that Nabiki was already planning ways that she could make a profit off of the poor boy, and they haven't been introduced yet either. Kasumi sighed quietly, when Nabiki had first begun to gather money, it had been for the family and Kasumi had seen how hard her sister had worked to keep the family financially secure, but she had also seen how her dear sister had begun to change, her motives for getting the money becoming tainted and corrupted over time.

Nabiki broke the silence first, her voice betraying none of the eagerness she felt. "So let me get this straight, you want one of us," She gestured to the herself and her sisters, "to marry a guy we've never met before, because of a promise you and this old training friend of yours made before we were born?" Soun nodded and Nabiki sat back with a smirk. "Eh, fine with me." The somewhat flippant answer caused both her father and younger sister to blink, while Kasumi simply gave another quiet sigh.

Akane looked ready to begin her own, quite loud, protestation towards her father's decision, but was forced to hold her tongue as a loud knocking was heard from down the hallway. Soun and Nabiki both jumped up excitedly and quickly headed towards the door. Akane sat fuming impotently, while Kasumi went into the kitchen to grab the food and tea she had prepared earlier. She made it back just in time to watch her father and sister re-enter the room and hide behind Akane. Kasumi cocked her head to the side, before the source of their fright made itself known in the form of a large panda with a struggling figure slung over one large shoulder.

The panda none to gently let its thrashing burden fall off its shoulder with an indignant squeak before sitting down with a large relieved, at least that's what it sounded like, sigh. The burden sat up and straightened its clothing over her, considering her figure the gender was obvious, figure, before turning and slamming a punch into the panda's gut that forced it to double over in pain. Retrieving her fist from its resting place, the redhead gave the Tendo family a serene smile completely at odds with her previous display of excessive violence.

"I am deeply sorry for the trouble my arrival has caused, my father seems to have a knack for losing his manners in times of excitement. My name is Ranma Saotome." She gave a small bow. "I believe I was expected?" Nabiki opened her mouth to immediately contest the redhead's proposed manner of identification, but was beaten out by her father who had leapt to embrace the redhead. However, he found himself clutching air and his momentum carried him forwards until it was expended with his collision with the wall. As he lay on the ground nursing the growing bump on his scalp, Soun began to cry and sob uncontrollably. Ranma stared at the incredibly embarrasing display, for the Tendo daughters, for several seconds before turning to the daughters with an unreadable expression.

"Your father, I take it?" She gestured vaguely in Soun's direction and was met by nods from the other three young girls. Ranma shared a wince with Kasumi at a particularly loud sob. "My sympathies. May I have some tea?" Kasumi blinked and moved quickly to serve her guest, even if it wasn't the one father had quite been expecting. Ranma took a sip and gave her hostess a beaming smile. "This is wonderful, your own blend?"

Kasumi gave a suprised nod, it wasn't often she came across a guest who actually took an interest in the blends of tea."Why yes, though it's actually my mother's recipe. But how did you know?"

Ranma chuckled." I spent some time a year or two ago with a family in Chiba, the eldest sister made an absolutely heavenly blend of tea." Ranma couldn't help the slight curl of her lips when she mentioned Bell-chan's 'heavenly' tea. Speaking of, she should probably stop in sometime, after all she had promised Urd that she would visit when she could find time away from her father. Kasumi smiled back at Ranma, maybe she could introduce her to her friend sometime. Kasumi's mouth made a small 'o' as she realised something with her last thought.

"Oh my, I just noticed, but we never introduced ourselves. My name is Kasumi Tendo." She gave a small bow before pointing towards Nabiki. "My younger sister Nabiki, and next to her is my youngest sister Akane. And I sincerely apologize for father's behaviour. He's not usually..." Kasumi trailed off as she thought about what she was going to say. "...this bad." She finished. Ranma gave a knowing nod, her own father had his fair share of faults too.

Ranma carefully set down her cup of tea as she cocked her head to the side. She gave a sigh before reaching back down for the tea, only to make an exagerrated slip of her hands and spill the last bit that was in the cup onto her, now his lap. Akane froze and her eyes glazed over, as her mind refused to accept the sight in front of her, while Nabiki's eyes took on a particularly fiendish gleam as she considered the possibilities presented to her. Kasumi cocked her head to the side thoughtfully.

"You, you were a girl?" Ranma blinked at the obvious question, but considering how shocking the transformation was she could understand if more in depth questions were not in mind at the moment.

"Umm, yes. I can explain though. Its a long and terrible story, but..." Ranma drew in a large breath as the Tendos, including a somewhat recovered Soun, leaned in to closer to hear his tale. "It's all my father's fault." And promptly face-palmed, with the exception of Kasumi who instead giggled quietly. Ranma smirked as the panda stood up and grabbed the tea pot before tipping the pot over onto its head. Just before the liquid touched the panda, Ranma's eyes widened and he quickly moved a hand to cover Kasumi's eyes.

Genma began to let out a relieved sigh, but was cut off as the rest of his breath was explosively forced from his lungs by another punch to the gut. As he doubled over in an attempt to recover his breath, his son grabbed him by the neck and tossed him out into the hallway before closing the door. As he lay on the ground in pain, he heard his son say something from behind the door.

"Hey old man, next time you do that, remember to put on your clothes first. Your bag's next to the door." Genma blinked and looked down at himself, before paling as he realized that he indeed was still unclothed and he had just flashed his friend's daughters. Reaching into his bag he grabbed one of his gis and put it on, wincing slightly as he moved it over his bruised ribs. Standing up he pushed aside the screen door and moved to re-enter the room, only to fall backwards as he was hit in the face by a thrown teapot.

Ranma looked over at the steaming Akane as she sat back down from launching her improvised projectile. He gave her nod of appreciation and a polite clap. "Not bad, though your form could use a little work, you overextended a bit too much with the wind-up. " A surprised Akane could only nod in exchange for Ranma's helpful advice, her previous anger muted by the strange behaviour, after her experiences, of the young male teen in front of her. Ranma smirked towards the hallway as his father slowly got to his feet again, one hand covering the large bump from the kettle.

Making his way over to the table, making sure not to fall over from the dizziness caused by the concussion he had suffered, he sat down with a loud thump. He opened his mouth to continue where his son had left off when his son started speaking again, and judging from the smirk the boy wore, it was very much on purpose. Genma wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or proud of his son's mastering of the school's first technique, the Taunting of the Buzzing Bee. In the end, he decided for a mix of both, as he sat quietly glowering towards his son, though with a hint of a smile at the edge of lips.

Ranma simply rolled his eyes at his father's antics, already more than used to them. "As I was saying, it's all my father's fault. You see, one day he came across a tour guide to a number of various training sites in China, and the last one on the list happened to be in the Valley of Jusenkyo. Specifically, the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. Each and every one of the springs there possesses its own unique curse, based on whatever drowned in each spring. The curse part of it is that if you happen to fall into a spring, you receive the body of what you would have been had you been born the creature that last landed in the spring. In my father's case, if he had been born a panda. In my case..." Ranma left the sentence open, as he didn't want to tell the family just what exactly he was cursed to transform into.

Ranma shook his head and gave a dismissive wave of the hand before continuing with his tale."Anyway, hot water temporarily returns the victim to their original form, at least until they get hit with cold water again." Soun was immediately at his feet and tried to once more gather Ranma into a tight hug, his attempt meeting with just as much success as the first one, though this time he was kept from impacting the wall or table due to Genma's body, Soun unintentionally wrapping the panda-cursed man in a large bear hug.(1)

Ranma hung his head as the two father's began an animated discussion over the engagement, though the exchanges went by too fast for Ranma to keep track of. Finally the two broke apart, after they eventually noticed that Soun was still holding onto his old friend, and sat down calmly to discuss the matter of the Saotome's presence as mature and responsible adults.

"Not to worry, that curse of yours isn't too bad. Now then, pick one of my daughters and she shall be the one that you are engaged to." Ranma cocked his head to the side, while Nabiki promptly palmed her face at her father's utterly unsubtle delivery. Akane had her anger reignited as its original source was again brought to her mind. Genma sat nodding sagely, as if his friend has spoken some great truth. Inwardly though, he was already working out which of the girl's would be the best for his plans, namely his plan for a happy retirement.

Ranma sighed, Amaya had warned him that this was likely how things would go, though her information was off by quite a bit, but at the very least he had a good idea on how to handle the current situation. Clearing his throat, he stared Soun straight into the eyes. "Mr. Tendo, while your enthusiasm," Ranma made a note to thank Amaya later for her work in upgrading his vocabulary, "is most, eh, refreshing, I think that it would be best if I took some time to get to know your daughters first, before making such an important decision. After all, to arbitrarily choose one of your daughters now, well I would be forced to choose base mostly upon looks, as I don't know anything about them. And that is not fair for your daughters, now is it?"

Soun froze, his desire for the marriage and assured continuance of his school warring against his love for his daughters. In the end his love won out and he gave a respectful incline of the head towards Ranma. "I suppose that is only fair. Well, since we won't be discussing that anymore this evening, why don't you join us for dinner? You can use the furo upstairs to wash up, after all I'm sure that after so long on the road a nice hot bath would be appreciated." Soun shared a laugh with his old friend, it had been many a time when he and Genma had stumbled back into their homes after a grueling amount of 'training' from the Old Master, Soun shuddered at the thought of his old sensei, only to be greeted by a wonderfully soothing bath that helped to wash away their aches and pains.

Kasumi frowned thoughtfully as she decided to interject. "Father, have you forgotten already?" Soun cocked his head to the side, confused. Kasumi gave a sigh, she had told him just this morning too. "The hot water heater is broken, you said you would call a repair man to come by." Kasumi turned to her guests with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but you will either have to wait until tomorrow or you will have to do with a cold bath instead."

Ranma gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't mind, sides most of the time I had to make do with bathing in a mountain stream or under a waterfall, so it shouldn't be too bad." Kasumi gave Ranma a smile, glad that he didn't seem to unduly mind the lack of hot water, a smile that Ranma easily returned. '_And, I have a few questions that need some answers. And I will be getting those answers, right Amaya?'_

Within Ranma's mindscape, Amaya couldn't resist a roll of her eyes. She was fond of the boy, she saw something of herself in him, and not just in his reflection after he had been doused with cold water, but he could be a bit trying at times. She was just happy that he had taken well to the changes she had done while he was returning to Japan, if he had been the same boy as the one that had first arrived at the Tendo's, she would have probably ended up driving him insane, and herself too, in the process.

_**'You will, just like with every other question you've asked me. But you do bring up a good point, and I have something for you once you're alone.' **_

Ranma blinked, but nodded anyway, his eyes dancing with well concealed curiousity. He gave his head a slight shake as he refocused on the scene in front of him, noticing the elder sister standing over by the stairs with an expectant expression. Taking in the unspoken words, Ranma followed behind her as she led him to the bath.

Once he was out of the room, Nabiki stood up and gave a shallow bow towards Genma, before turning to her father. "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I have homework that I need to finish before tomorrow." With that said she hurried upstairs to her own room, only pausing to make sure Ranma was in the bathroom before turning on her bugs, microphones only though, as Kasumi would have gotten upset with her otherwise. (2) Putting on her earphones, she turned up the volume in the hopes of hearing something juicy that she could turn to her advantage.

* * *

Within the bathroom, Ranma had already undressed and begun to lather up. Meanwhile, he was holding a rather interesting conversation within his head with his, passenger.

'_So, you said you had something for me?' _Amaya snickered, amused by the eagerness in Ranma's voice.

'**_Yep! Here you go!'_**That was all the warning Ranma had, as his mind was assaulted by a massive barrage of images and feelings that left him reeling and breathless.

'_W-what the hell was that?' _Even his mental voice sounded strained to his mind, which was a strange idea that he decided best not to dwell upon.

'**_That, was one of Hild-sama's gifts to me, and in turn mine to you. When I think you've earned it, I'll give you the secrets to a martial arts style or technique lost to time. That, as my first gift is a relatively simple one, the secrets behind the use of your Ki, or when you are in my form, your Mana, in order to improve your body.'_**

"Woah," Ranma let out a breath, his mind already at work dissecting the information he had been given and finding ways to improve upon the presented foundations. While he let his mind do his thing, Ranma decided that he had put it off enough, and slipped into the furo, his skin shivering as the cold water slid over his quickly changing body.

Ranma leaned forwards until she rested her head on the tiles at the edge of the furo, giving a loud sigh as she let the disguise technique that hid her tails fade, allowing them freely float behind her. "Ah, it feels good to let you guys go unconcealed." With eyes closed in a dream-like expression, Ranma reached behind herself and began to stroke her tails, small moans occaisonally slipping free of her lips as she caught a particularly sensitive spot. Ranma had come across that little secret of his, her, new body while she and her father were heading back to the coast of China before heading towards Japan.

Hearing something, Ranma opened her eyes only for her entire body to lock up in shock as she saw that she was not alone. Standing in the now open doorway, Kasumi held a towel in one hand, her own eyes wide and her mouth dropped open in surprise. "I-I forgot to set out a towel." Moving stiffly she moved to put the towel on the floor near the furo, but far enough that it wouldn't get wet with any possible splashing. " I'll leave you alone now." With that she turned to head back out, but Ranma's voice caused her to stop.

"Wait! It's not what it looks like!" Kasumi hesitated, but the abject honesty in Ranma's voice caused her to turn around once more, this time leaving her facing her guest. As she stood there, she took in Ranma's new, at least to her, appearance. She looked a bit older, taller and thinner, with a more well defined face lacking the baby fat that Ranma's previous female form possessed. Her hair was a darker, deeper crimson, and her eyes seemed to be the most unusual amethyst colour. And then there were of course to most obvious differences, the luminescent silver tails and fox-like ears perched atop her head. The two stared quietly at each other, while the awkwardness of the situation weighed down heavily on their shoulders, until it became to much and Kasumi broke the silence.

"So, this is what your cursed form really looks like?" Ranma, blinked, the question wasn't exactly the first one he would have asked if the positions were reversed, but it was an easy enough one to answer.

"Yeah, I normally keep them hidden with a transformation technique, otherwise I'd cause a riot everywhere I went." Kasumi nodded, she could definitely see the sense in that. While she was pretty sure she knew the answer to her next question, she still couldn't help but ask it anyway, if only to see Ranma's reaction.

"Oh good, then you aren't a sex demon out to steal father's soul?" She delivered her question so casually that it took Ranma a moment to actually register the question, but when she did she began to sputter and blush uncontrollably, her manic splashing covering the sounds of Kasumi's giggling. Once Ranma managed to calm down slightly, and catch sight of the expression on Kasumi's face, she decided to try a little payback.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but I prefer soul's of a rather different flavour." Now it was Kasumi's turn to blush, as she registered the innuendo all too easily. Deciding to change the subject before things got too far out of hand she pointed towards Ranma's tails.

"They're so, so big. Can I touch them?" Ranma cocked her head to the side, before tentatively nodding her acquiescence. Smiling, Kasumi reached out and began to stroke Ranma's tails in a manner similar to how she was doing herself earlier, though Kasumi's much lighter and gentle touch prompted much louder moaning. "Ooh, they're so soft. Are you okay Ranma? I'm not pulling too hard am I?"

Ranma bit her lip as she tried to keep in a particularly loud moan before responding. "Nah, you're pulling just right. But slow down, cause they're really sensitive, oka-aay!" Ranma shuddered as Kasumi managed to hit one of the most sensitives spots and that particular tail, Ranma's body practically melting into a blushing Kasumi's arms.

Kasumi continued her gentle stroking until Ranma recovered enough to slip more fully into the furo, her entire body flushed scarlet. "Umm, I'll see once I'm done, okay?" Ranma's voice squeaked, which caused her to blush in the face harder. Kasumi gave a nod before getting to her feet and noiselessly leaving the room. Ranma continued to stay in the cold water until her face no longer felt like it was being shoved against the Sun.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nabiki stared at the wall opposite her without truly seeing it, her mind still overwhelmed with the discoveries and revelations about her guest and her own sister. Although, it did explain several things about Kasumi that had bothered her, such as why the eldest sister had never once been out on a date, even during her school years, and it also certainly explained why her sister seemed oblivious to the good doctor's attentions.

What made things possibly worse for her was all those rumours from when she had first started school, of her being 'Kasumi's sister' suddenly came back to haunt her with disturbing new connotations. Maybe she should try a little bit harder in stopping the morning fights too, as the rumours that had spawned from _that _monstrosity would surely damage her own reputation when the word got out that Ranma was potentially engaged to her, at least that was if someone found out about his curse.

Slowly, Nabiki removed her headphones with trembling hands, gently setting them down on her desk as she tried not to fall out of her chair. Quietly she got up and moved over to her bed before lying down and pulling the covers over her head. As she flicked off the light, she could only hope that tomorrow would be better for her sanity. She also made a mental note to keep Ranma's curse and the potential engagement to herself, at least until someone else found out about them.

* * *

Ranma blinked as his, thanks to some easily accepted hot water from Kasumi, mind tried to process the information it had just been presented, and failing to find the rationale behind the decision. "So, _now _you want me to go school? Why's that? Because I'm pretty sure I can remember you telling off those truant officers a while back with, 'school can't teach the boy anything I can't, all it'll do is make him soft', and I'm pretty sure you said a few other things, but considering there's a lady present I don't think it would be wise of me to repeat them."

Genma shivered as the eyes of the Tendo daughters, Kasumi not included, turned dark glares onto the man. But what really caused him to sweat was the frown on the eldest's face. Though he had only just met the girl, somehow the sight of the expression on her face just seemed _wrong, _and it caused his stomach to twist into knots. "Well, that was while we were on the training trip boy. Obviously we've settled down for a while and there's no reason for you not to go."

Ranma rolled his eyes as he watched his father sit up straighter, thanks to what he no doubt thought was a convincing lie. "Right," The Tendo girls' attentions moved over to Ranma as he began to speak, "and what happened to, 'settling down will only to lead to weakness, remember that and always keep moving boy', hmm? Besides, I don't even know where this school is, and I don't have any supplies either, or did you think I could do well without them?"

Once again the eyes switched targets, this time to a bitter faced Genma, his brow twitching in frustrated anger at being called out. Luckily for him, his old friend noticed his foundering and decided to take the opportunity to interject and diffuse the situation. "I'm sure they'll give you the necessary supplies once you are registered, and the school is easy enough to find, its the same one my daughters attend."

Soun and Genma both brightened as an idea came to them, which caused Ranma to groan under his breath. "In fact, why not go with my daughters to school, that way you can get to know them better." As the pair began to congratulate each other on what was, in their minds, a brilliant and surefire plan for success, Ranma turned his attention to the food on the table, noticing to his pleasant surprise that his plate seemed to possess more food than the others. Shrugging it off, he lifted some to his mouth and nearly collapsed as the taste exploded across his tongue.

With a speed much greater than that which any of the Tendo's could ever manage to reach, yet still a far cry from the speed he had possessed in his past, Ranma dug in with gusto. It had taken more than a month of constant nagging and sniping comments, but Amaya had managed to drill some basic manners into Ranma, including taking the time to enjoy the food he was eating. Every once in a while, Ranma would turn a beaming smile Kasumi's direction, a smile she easily returned, after all it was nice to have someone outside of her family show such appreciation towards her cooking.

Nabiki had been watching things carefully as she ate, easily noticing the glances that Ranma and her sister exchanged, and for once in her life drew the wrong conclusions from what she was seeing. Once she finished her plate, surprisingly enough before Ranma managed to do so, due to the fact that after the first bite he had slowed down even more than usual for him, she uttered a soft thanks to her sister before grabbing her book bag and the prepared lunch. She contemplated grabbing her sister so that she could talk to her about the engagement before school started, but considering the way the fathers were behaving she would probably be better off waiting until lunch.

With that in mind she ducked outside before anyone noticed. Already her mind was working on how to work the Tendo family's guest into her various arrangements and under the table gambling, especially once Ranma got wind of the morning fights. That thought caused Nabiki to pause in the street. How _would_ Ranma react? Considering what she knew of him, it probably wouldn't be good for the males of Furinkan at all, and that was good for her, very good for her.

* * *

Ranma sighed as he lackadaisically balanced himself along the fence that lined the street. Akane walked down the street next to him, her mind focused on the circus of idiots that was probably already getting revved up by the ringmaster at school. The jangling of the chainlink fence though, snapped her attention to a more pressing issue.

"I hope you know that I'm not going to marry you. The rumours about me are bad enough already, I can't even imagine what they'd be like if someone found out about that curse of yours." She snapped angrily at Ranma, the anger partly from her frustration at her current routine, and partly from the idea of being forced into marriage, any marriage let alone one with someone like _him._

Ranma rolled his eyes, he had no desire to get married to her either, but she didn't hear him complaining about it like that. At least he had some idea of what kind of person each of the girl's was, thanks to Amaya, and from she had told him, he didn't want to be involved with Akane, at all. Still, he couldn't help but scoff at her statement, because honestly, she'd be lucky to get a guy like him.

"Did you hear me?" And there was her irritating voice again, knocking him out of his pleasant self-aggrandizing. He turned his eyes towards where Akane was trudging down the street, her own eyes focused on some distant point along their path.

"Oh, and what made you think I wanted anything to do with you, hmm? I mean-hey!" Akane's eyes snapped up to watch with surprise as Ranma was forced to dodge a blow from his father, ducking under the first swing before quickly knocking out the older man's feet from under him, sending him straight into the waterway that ran next to the road. Ranma turned to smirk at his defeated father, before back-flipping off the fence to avoid getting sprayed by water from his sopping wet father.

"You're too old and too slow to be pulling that kind of stuff on me now pops, so why don't ya go back to the old folks home where you belong." Still smirking, Ranma swiftly ducked under another of his father's blows, this one ridiculously easy to dodge, due to the slight reduction of speed presented by his panda form, before slamming an uppercut to the jaw that sent his father flying back into the water.

"Oh, and by the way, you remember last night?" He asked as he turned back to Akane, a mischievous grin tugging at his mouth. Akane cocked her head to the side and gave a tentative nod. "Then you remember what your father said?" The grin grew wide at the confused look on her face. "I get to pick which one of you I'm to be engaged with, remember that?"

If the sudden paling of her face was anything to go by, then she most certainly did remember. "Then you can relax, because there is no way in hell I'm gonna choose you, I mean, who would want to date a tomboy like you anyways?" As soon as the last word left his mouth Ranma felt like palming his face, Amaya had warned him about Akane's triggers, and he had just smacked the big red button.

"Why you-you boy!" Full of rage, Akane swung wildly towards Ranma with her schoolbag, and was caught of guard when Ranma slipped around her. He grabbed her outstretched arm, and with infuriating ease, used it to swing her around, letting her go just in time to get soaked by the little old ladle lady. Ranma happily dashed off as Akane stood there sputtering.

"And don't be late!" Ranma smiled widely at the sound of unintelligible rage that could only have come from one source. As he, once he was sure he was clear from Akane, calmly walked down the street, he decided to talk with Amaya to see if there was anything to look out for once he got to school.

"_Well, anything to be worried about?"_

_**"Not too much, though there is a group of students who have decided, or rather have been decided for, that in order to date the young Tendo, they must first defeat her in combat. Personally, I suggest staying out of it, it won't earn you any favours, though, I must say, I would very much enjoy seeing you deal with the instigator."**_

_**"**__Oh come on, it can't be that bad, can it?" _Amaya's boisterous laughter at Ranma's question failed to inspire any confidence within him as to the veracity of his statement-cum-question.

**_"Heh, I'll let you find out on your own about that. But I have another proposition for you, one that will save you a lot of time and effort down the line too."_**

Ranma cocked his head to the side. _"Oh? What is it?"_

**_"Simple, do well in school, and I'll give you some more 'gifts'. Deal?"_**Ranma frowned, his brow furrowed in deep thought. It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea of doing well in school, it was just that to do so would take a lot more effort than he wanted to give. On the other hand, there was a potential fortune in new techniques easily in his reach.

_"Fine, I'll do it. But they had better be some damn good techniques." _Amaya smirked in victory, if there was one thing she knew, it was how to get people to dance to her tune. Ranma sighed at his 'guest's' triumphant laughter. As he turned the corner, he caught sight of the front gates of the school, and to his surprise he could hear the sounds of fighting coming from within the grounds.

With a burst of speed, he easily leapt to the top of the wall, only to nearly fall off his perch when he saw what was going on. Somehow, she had managed to dry off and still make it to the school ahead of him, he was also pretty sure that she had on a different uniform too.

He couldn't help but laugh at how absolutely inept the various martial artists were, especially considering how badly they were doing against Akane. If there had been at least one half-way decent fighter down there, then things may have been different, as Akane possessed so many holes in defense, and left so many openings with her attacks that Ranma could have leveled her more times than he could count, and that was just from watching a few short seconds of her fighting.

With a derisive snort, he hopped off the wall and strode through field of desolation, not bothering to avoid stepping on any of the various injured and occasionally unconscious bodies that littered his path. He was just stepping past Akane, who had finally finished off the last of the mob, when something smacked into his cheek. Pausing, he looked down to see a small rose lying fallen at his feet.

With a raised brow, he turned to face the source of the projectile. He barely noticed Amaya muttering something decidedly uncouth under her breath. He did notice the pain caused by another brief influx of images and information. Working quickly, his mind processed the information, and once it was finished assimilating, he couldn't help but close his eyes in pain and let out a groan.

On opening them, he already knew who was going to be standing in front of him, and thus wasn't surprised when a young man dressed in a hakama stepped out from behind a nearby tree. He couldn't help but cringe at the assualt on his ears as Kuno began to speak.

"Hold knave!" He shouted at Ranma, who had already stopped after getting hit by the rose. "Who are you to intercept my declaration of love for the beauteous Akane Tendo?"

Ranma cursed under his breath as he held his head in hands. "Why, tell me why does this shit have to happen to me?" Akane, who stood close enough to overhear him, couldn't help the snicker that escaped her mouth at his words. Kuno, on the other hand, didn't hear Ranma's words, but he did see Akane's reaction to them.

Seeing that someone, other than him of course, was capable of getting a positive response out of the youngest Tendo, considering the fact that she always seemed to be happier after pounding on him for a bit, Kuno was infuriated. In his mind, it was his sole singular duty to ensure Akane's happiness, something that he absolutely believed involved himself and her in one manner or another, something he took to the point of insanity.

Angrily, he lifted his blade towards Ranma. "I ask again, what is your name peasant?" Ranma sighed as he turned to face his current headache.

"Ranma Saotome, and I can't stand arrogant pricks like you." Kuno's face purpled with indignant rage, his mouth opening to yell some form of obscenity towards Ranma, only to have the air in his lungs forcibly and quite explosively removed. He stumbled backwards, his mouth gaping like a fish as he tried to regain his breath.

Ranma simply stood watching, looking almost bored with the whole thing, his arm still in the position of having punched Kuno. As soon as Kuno had managed to regain some form of control of himself, Ranma launched himself at him, his body blurring into motion, leaving those watching stunned and in awe. Kuno's eyes widened and he barely raised his bokken in time to block the first blow directed towards him, but he failed to block any of the subsequent blows.

Ranma finished with an exaggerated flourish, for those watching the fight, if it could be called such, as Kuno had long since fallen unconscious, slowing down enough so that everyone could see, he slammed both of his palms into Kuno's upper torso, the impact rocketing him backwards into the school wall. As he slumped bonelessly to the ground, Ranma couldn't resist smirking as he turned and offered a bow to his audience, before striding triumphantly through the doors.

Outside, Akane and the few students still conscious, which made up only a small number of the students outside at the time, were still staring at the fallen figure of Kuno in slack-jawed disbelief. The loud crash of thunder shook them from their respective reveries, each of them hustling to get themselves inside as the rain began to fall, a few here and there trying to drag the body of one of their friends inside with them before they could catch a cold.

Inside, Ranma chuckled darkly to himself as he wove his way through the crowds of students that filled the hallways, the rumors an knowledge of what just happened visibly spreading through them like ripples on a formerly still pond. As he stepped in to the administration office, he decided that maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Then again, he had been wrong before. Ranma winced as yet another small folded note landed on his desk, joining the other dozen or so that were already there. It certainly didn't help that every time another one landed on his desk Akane would shoot him a particularly dirty look, mainly due to the fact that the writer's of said notes were made up solely of the female portion of the class.

Their current teacher, a relatively elderly man with white hair, who's area of expertise was Japanese history, was just about to enter into a short lecture on Nobunaga's fall and the reason's leading up to it, when a remarkably well healed Kuno burst into the classroom, bellowing at the top of his lungs.

"Never Saotome! I will never accept you eng-urk!" Kuno stumbled backwards as Ranma's expertly flicked eraser hit him in the throat. Ranma slowly stood up from his seat and looked apologetically at the teacher.

"Excuse me Takeda-sensei, but if you'll excuse me for a moment, I have a problem that needs solving." Blinking, Takeda nodded, and then watched as Ranma purposefully walked over to the hallway, before he closed the door quietly behind him. The class leaned towards the wall, but were unable to make out the brief muffled exchange that occurred between the two students.

What they were able to make out, and it was so easy to do that pretty much every class could hear it, were Kuno's loud screams of pain. The screaming went on for several seconds, before it cut off rather abruptly. The class winced as one as Ranma stepped back into the room, a wide smile on his face. He sighed as went and sat back down at his seat, the eyes of the class following him unerringly as walked over from the door.

Sheepishly, as was his tendency, he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that, I had no idea he'd follow me to class, normally if you beat them like that, most animals learn to stay away from ya." The class stared wordlessly at him, while he muttered under his breath something about wolves and steaks. Shaking his head, and thinking amusingly of the wonders of youth, Takeda loudly cleared his throat, the noise gathering the attention of the class just as intended.

"Now I trust there will be no further interruptions, correct?" Seeing no-one moving to argue, Shingen Takeda (3) let himself smile as he thought back to the good old days, while he fingered the tassel on the gunbai that rested on his desk. "Wonderful. Back on topic then. One of the biggest factors in Nobunaga's defeat was of course..."

And as Ranma sat back in his seat, one hand making short concise notes every once in a while, he decided that he had been right on his first thought, school definitely wouldn't be boring, and who knows, he just might end up learning something useful. The fact that his teacher was discussing a subject that held interest for him, history concerning some of the greatest warriors and leaders the world had ever seen, may have had more than a little to do with that decision, but everyone has their faults.

* * *

(1) I'm sorry. Truly, I am.

(2) An upset Kasumi is equal to an upset Belldandy, and an upset Belldandy is a scary thing.

(3) Yes it is _that _Shingen Takeda, for those of you who know Japanese history. I figured Furinkan deserved some badass teachers, aside from Hinako of course, to deal with its rough student population. This particular version is inspired by Samurai Warriors 3, a majorly awesome game for the Wii. Speaking of, Bayonetta 2 is going to be a Wii U exclusive. HELL YEAH! And before you start bitching about that, consider this; it was either the Wii U, or there would never be a sequel.

Some of you are probably thinking, 'What the hell has this guy done to Kasumi? She's not like that at all!'. And you'd be right, but Nabiki doesn't know that. It's all a matter of perception, and with the lack of context, well she's not the only one who would jump to conclusions.

Things to cover, as I said up top.

**Number One: **No Perm Ranma-chan. That's **Ozzallos**' shtick. Not to say I don't enjoy it or dabble in it, because I do on both counts, and **Ozzallos** is the best at that, but because it leaves me with more story options. But to help calm your nerves, no Ranma X Male pairing will be in **any** of my stories. Although, depending on the crossover there might be an exception, such as Kampfer or Nyotai-ka, because those ones possess a character with a nature similar to Ranma's.

**Number Two: **To Rimshooter, the reference is that Manaka used the same move on a group of men who were going to rape him/her, (To those who haven't read it, read the manga for the reason I included the slash there, be careful though, the manga is definitely NSFW. XD ) his girlfriend who's name escapes me and his stalker-ish landlord.


	3. Chapter 3

It had not been too long before Ranma found himself settled into a pleasant, relatively speaking, routine. He would get up in the morning, usually about five minutes or so before his father, and carefully sneak out of the guest room after placing a straw-filled dummy under his covers. His father, displaying his boundless ability to learn from his mistakes, continued to mistake the dummy for Ranma, tossing it out the window before following close behind. It would have been quite entertaining, had the way Genma continually miscalculated his own capability in comparison to his sons leading to his falling into the koi pond not been so... pathetic.

School wasn't too much trouble, minus the fact he needed to deal with Kuno in mornings, something Amaya assured him wasn't too surprising, no matter how irritating it might be. After Kuno had dredged himself out of the school pool he had apparently sworn that he would have his revenge for his 'most unjust' defeat at Ranma's hands. That in and of itself would have hardly caused Ranma any major concern, but after the third consecutive morning of fighting him off, and the first morning in which he brought out live steel, the small amount of patience Ranma had for his antics vanished. After that, he took to entering the grounds via various other routes, such as over the walls or in the crowds while using his female form's ability to disguise itself, something he was incredibly thankful for.

That was another thing that was slowly beginning to worry the martial artist; his growing lack of objections and discomfort to spending time in his female form. He had only had it less than a week and he had already begun to think of it as simply another skill he could use instead of a crippling curse, and that week had been well over four and half months ago. Now he didn't even think of it as a skill, instead it had become almost second-nature for him to spill some water onto himself and slip into another form for one reason or another, such as slipping away from pursuers, or scamming free food from the vendors in the market, or any variety of other reasons.

He had asked Amaya about it once, his worries over losing himself rising to the fore, but she had shrugged and muttered something cryptic about it simply being the nature of the beast.

And that more than anything terrified him to his bones. The thought that his own core sense of self was slowly being forced to mutate into something foreign was shocking, but he realized that in a way, it was his own mind, body, and soul holding true to the core principles of his school; adaptation and incorporation. The fact that he was doing it subconsciously was a testament to how seriously he took his art, though for the first time he occasionally wished that wasn't the case.

Ranma pushed on regardless, unwilling to let something, anything, keep down for more than a short period of time. There was no time to dwell on the unfortunate parts of life when you were trying to make something of your life; if you always focused on the just the negative then you would never find pleasure in your accomplishments, or so an old monk had once told him.

Today was a Friday, which meant, for Ranma at least, that it was the last day in the week that he would have to worry about Kuno. Unfortunately that also meant that the self-styled Kendo master would be pulling out all the stops, knowing just as Ranma did that they would be able to recover over the weekend. Of course, Ranma would need far less time to recover than Kuno would, thanks to his training and Amaya, but as Ranma usually used the weekend to work on assignments for school as well as continuing his training, he usually spent enough energy that by the time Monday arrived the two would be back on equal footing once more.

Ranma walked leisurely towards the school, his book-bag slung over his shoulder, whistling a light tune in the air as he casually walked past the Laddle Lady, watching her go about her daily routine from the other side of the street. While he didn't seem to be struck by water as much as he used to be, it seemed that his growing acceptance of Amaya, and the changes she was causing his personality, served to dampen the water attracting aspect of the curse. If Amaya was right and the curse was designed to teach its victim's lessons by forcing them to spend time in their cursed form, then he had little doubt that soon enough he wouldn't have to worry about accidentally getting hit by water.

He saw the school gates before him, and just beyond was the ready form of Kuno, hand on hilt as he awaited his 'heavenly rival'. Ranma snorted in amusement. It wouldn't do to keep people waiting, with a crowd of students gathered in anticipation of what was usually the highlight of their mornings, and he wanted to finish it as soon as possible so he could get on with everything. He stepped into the schoolyard and strode towards Kuno, his eyes drifting up to catch the time. He grimaced, with class starting in less than five minutes, he didn't want to be late and disappoint his homeroom teacher. Where the school had found a guy like him, Ranma would never know, but considering what he could tell from the teacher's movements, he wanted to avoid antagonizing him at all costs. His eyes focused on Kuno as he hefted his book bag considerably in his hand before hurling it upwards. Kuno's eyes followed the object skywards, returning back to earth just in time for him to catch sight of Ranma's fist as it slammed into his face.

Ranma paused to make sure that Kuno wasn't about to get back up, though considering the amount of force it must have taken for the Kendo captain to be embedded three feet into the ground, his recovery wasn't likely to be anytime soon. He chuckled quietly to himself; he hadn't even used the full force available to him in that blow, and he was reasonably sure that if he went all out, the delusional teen wouldn't be getting back up.

Ever.

His arm stretched out and he gently caught his book bag before it hit the ground. The students around him were silent, even Nabiki having paused from gathering her winnings to stare. His first meeting with Kuno had ended up lasting over two minutes until it began to rain, and he had just defeated the Kendo captain with a single move in less than ten seconds. His victory had been so easily obtained that it was almost worth spending a moment to rub in Kuno's unconscious face. Of course doing that would just be tempting fate, and if there was one thing he had learned from reading manga - usually swiped from convenience stores while he was gathering food during the his journey with his father - it was that opponents always seemed to get back on their feet the moment someone began to gloat or monologue.

Instead he simply walked past Kuno and into the school, the crowd behind him surging into motion as the school bell chimed the beginning of class. He was, to no surprise, the first one to class, and he spared a couple seconds after placing his bag on his desk to chat with the new homeroom and history teacher. Ranma had been disappointed to find out that Takeda-sensei was retiring only a week after his arrival, yet another victim to the high-stress work environment that was Furinkan High. The man they had hired to replace him, a Souichirou Kuzuki from Fuyuki City, was just as knowledgeable about the which he taught, but in direct contrast the rather boisterous Takeda, Kuzuki was a cold and unflapable, even after having met with both Kuno and Ranma on his first day. That meeting had done a great deal in earning Ranma's respect, and afterwards he was much more willing to pay attention, even beyond what he had given the previous history teacher.

While he seemed for the most parts a mere history teacher, there was no doubt in Ranma's mind that Kuzuki-sensei was more that what he appeared. He had seen him move, and there was no possible way for someone to gain such an economy of motion and easy grace without having spent decades of devoted training. There was also the way he had managed to knock out Kuno when the teen had accosted the teacher during one of indiscriminant tirades; Ranma had seen a blur of movement and then the Kendo captain had fallen forwards, knocked out cold. Even though he seemed unapproachable, he was actually rather friendly, if one could get past the seriousness with which he spoke. He often spent his time in the mornings waiting for the rest of the students to arrive discussing their latest history lesson, on the Genpei war, its causes and legacy, and Ranma was pleased to find that the stoic teacher seemed to appreciate his interest.

The last of the students, Akane as usual, arrived and Ranma was waved off to take his seat. If he noticed the smoldering glares being sent at the back of his head by the youngest Tendo, then he did not make any visible sign of it. From what he had gathered, through overheard snippets of conversing students as they arrived to class, Kuno had managed to get back on his feet far faster than Ranma would have thought him capable of, and the upper classman had immediately set himself against the just-arriving Akane.

She had beaten him as well, due in part to the substantial injuries he had taken from Ranma's blow, and she had just barely made it to class before she was late. If there was one thing all the students of Furinkan could agree, Kuno included, it was that being late to Kuzuki-sensei's class was the equivalent of handing yourself over to the Shinigami.

Ranma turned his eyes towards Akane and gave her a flat look. She flinched back and hastily poured her attention into her text book. He smiled as her returned his own focus to where Kazuki-sensei was beginning roll-call. It had taken him a little over a week, but he had firmly established the fact that he would not allow Akane to run roughshod over him like she did most everyone else; he had far too much self-respect - and muted arrogance - that the first few times she had tried to do so, she had met with exceedingly heavy resistance.

His face out of her sight, Ranma allowed his customary smug grin onto his face. For some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, he found pushing the youngest Tendo's buttons to be oddly satisfying. He debated about asking Amaya if she knew something about his past-life, some memory or series of events that might have involved the self-proclaimed best martial artist of Nerima - pre-Ranma of course. Of course the fact that having her tell him anything would probably include future events that had yet to occur, he decided not to; he wanted life to be a challenge, and being told how everything was going to unfold seemed way too much like cheating.

Besides, what's life without its surprises?

* * *

The kitchen of the Tendo home. It was not overly large, containing a gas stove and oven, a sink, and a counter against the outwards wall, but it was Kasumi's domain, and there were none that dared contest that fact. Akane would argue that she deserved to be able to use the kitchen as well, but it hadn't been too hard too dissuade her of that course of action; all it had taken was Kasumi borrowing one of her mother's techniques to make her crumble and swear off making her own food.

A shrill whistle filled the air as steam began to vent from the kettle over the stove-top, Kasumi darting over to remove it from the heat before turning off the burner. She hummed a wordless melody as she added the tea mix to the water, returning to preparing the snacks for her father and his guest while they played their game of Shogi.

A sigh escaped her lips at the thought of her fiance's father. While she didn't have anything to hold against him -yet- something about Genma Saotome just didn't sit well with her. She was glad to have found that he had gotten himself a job as Dr. Tofu's assistant. At the very least that made him much better than her unreliable and generally useless uncle. She smiled as she pulled out a small plate rice-balls she had leftover from making her sisters', and Ranma's, bento boxes; she wondered sometimes, about just how many rather inept friends her father had, and just how he had managed to catch the eye of a woman like her mother the kamis alone knew.

And just like that her good mood was gone, her smile vanishing from her face to be replaced by a somber and contemplative expression. It was times likes these that she missed her mother. She surely would have been disappointed with the piteous wreck her husband had become after she passed, Kasumi certainly felt hurt more often than not by the way he had placed all her mother's duties on her shoulders. And then the man had the gall to tell her that she couldn't continue studying the Art like Akane, telling her that she would be too busy to properly practice and train when he hadn't taught a proper lesson in well over a decade. If she hadn't found her mother's scroll, she simply didn't know how she would have turned out, if she would have retained her sanity or spirit, or if her will would have been subsumed by her duty to her family.

Duty. Such a small word. Only four letters in the English language, and yet it could bring down even the strongest, it could render even the most free of spirits unto chains, and it was something that she knew all too well. Maybe it was duty that had made her accept the engagement when it was offered, but it was not duty to her father that had driven her to do so; rather it was her duty to the memory of her mother, and her last wishes to see her darling daughter become all she could be that did so. Kasumi held no illusions about the reality of life around her, no matter what the oblivious facade she bore around her family might lead people to believe, she knew that her only hopes of escaping the monotonous prison her life had become lay with the cursed young man who had stumbled blindly into her life.

Now that had been a surprise for her; it's not everyday you meet someone with an honest to Amaterasu curse, especially when the person with the curse seems to be such a genuinely nice person, if somewhat rough around the edges. She wasn't too surprised by the fact that magic existed, she actually knew for a fact that, as her English teacher had put it,"_There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."_ _  
_

Kasumi raised a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggle that threatened to escape. If she had spoken something like that aloud her sister would have probably had a heart-attack, considering that brute who went to her school had decided to adopt the archaic mannerisms of the Samurai of ages gone by, with an additional smattering of ye olde English literature and poetry to add some variety. It was such a shame that for all his professed nobleness and honor that he seemed to have completely missed just about every lesson possible that history taught. Knights and Samurai were supposed to be chivalrous and virtuous warriors, not egotistical children imposing their desires on those they believe to be beneath them, though history contained far too many examples of men of that sort than one would like to think.

She gave her head a shake to clear her thoughts as she realized that she had been staring at the tea kettle for the last fifteen minutes, judging by the clock on the wall, and the tea had surely finished steeping during that time. She quickly poured out several small cups, letting out a small sigh of relief as steam still arose from the hot liquid's surface, and carried out the tea and rice balls for her father and Genma. Her smile was strained as her father gave her a halfhearted wave as she set down the plate next to the Shogi board, Genma reaching forward immediately to begin stuffing his face while her father focused all his attention on his next move, or more likely, another distraction he could use in order to rearrange the board to his liking. Glad as she was to see her father the liveliest he had been in years, she dearly wished that he would at the very least acknowledge her with more than just a vague gesture in her direction, and that someone who truly appreciated her food was eating it instead of a man who simply ate because he wanted to have food in his stomach; someone like Ranma would be perfect.

With wide eyes, she quickly turned on her heel and headed up the stairs and into her room before the fathers could see the growing blush on her face._ Where had that come from? _She wondered as she closed the door and dropped herself onto her bed, unmindful of the wrinkles the act would cause her clothes. _He's nice enough, I mean, he's kind and considerate, he's asked my opinion on things, come to me for advice with his school work and social life, helped me in the kitchen, helped with the laundry, hel-. _

Kasumi jolted upright as the implications of her train of though percolated within her mind. Was she really falling for the boy simply because he treated her as an actual person rather than just another part of the house? Could she have really let things slip that far without notice? Looking back into her memories she studied her interactions with her family and came to the depression conclusion that yes, things had devolved around her over the last few years. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she jumped to her feet, stomping over to her closet and retrieving her mother's last gift to her, before heading down to the dojo to vent some of her emotions. Unlike Akane, she had learned long ago that anger clouded the mind and was quite dangerous if left unchecked; of course her sister ignored her warnings entirely, but she had tried to get her to see the error of her ways.

Her eyes were burning -although her face retained its usual serene smile, a trick she had learned from her mother while she was still alive - as she strode through the house like a furious oni-onna, her father taking one glance at her, his eyes meeting hers and widening in abject terror, before ducking outside and out of her sight. Genma gave his old friend a strange look before turning to find what had scared him, his eyes focusing instead on the object grasped tightly in a bone-white hand, his mouth dropping open in shock before quickly following his friend in vacating the premises. Kasumi's smile grew wider and she felt a portion of the fury filling her fade away, while she was still internally raging against the circumstances that she had realized herself to be in, the sight of her father fleeing for his life from his 'saint' of a daughter went a ways to alleviating some of her temper.

Now, where had she put that training dummy of hers? She still had some pent-up emotions left for her to vent.

* * *

School ended and the students, like most students anywhere else in world, exited as if they were rats jumping from a sinking ship. The tide of teenaged humanity burst from the door and out into the schoolyard and the streets beyond, slowly breaking up from one large mass into clumps of friends and solitary students, all heading in every which way; some to after school clubs, to friends houses, their own homes, or to offer a challenge to their morning defeater.

Having been going to school for the last month and a half, Ranma had gotten Kuno's schedule for the morning and afternoon just about memorized, mostly where the upperclassman's classroom was, what route he took, and how long it took him to get out of the building. With that knowledge, it was easy for Ranma to leave without being seen by the obsessive kendoist. He'd made it less than half a block before Akane and Nabiki had caught up to him, though he pointedly ignored the latter's attempts to strike up conversation in favor of concentrating on keeping his balance atop the chain link fence.

He was three breaths away from becoming completely zen when Amaya's suddenly spoke up. It had been so long since they had communicated, the last time being just after he had completed a particularly hard math test two weeks earlier, and he almost didn't realize that the voice in his head wasn't his own.

**_'Jump.' _**Ranma simply blinked in surprise before he sensed an incoming attack, his surprise momentary as he used the fence as a horizontal springboard, clearing not a moment too soon. A dark man-sized blur dropped down from a nearby rooftop and crushed the fence where Ranma had been standing, the impact causing a large cloud of dust to rise up and obscure the figures form.

The cloud cleared and Ranma was forced to back-flip away from an overhanded strike that would have taken his head off it had connected, instead it smashed into the ground, tearing up shards of asphalt and concrete. Ranma landed in a crouch, his eyes narrowed as he took in his opponent. A good deal of muscles lay beneath the plain black shirt, and considering the damage his blow had caused, it was evident that his strength was equal if not superior to Ranma's, even when he was using his Ki enhancements. His opinion was reinforced as the other teen dropped the umbrella he had used to attack with, the object falling to the ground and raising quite a large cloud of dust on its own.

Something about the other teen's appearance seemed familiar, but Ranma couldn't place it until Amaya spoke up once more. '**_Ryoga Hibiki, you knew him in school a few years back. Don't bother,'_ **Ranma closed his mouth before he could greet the other boy as Amaya guessed his train of thought and cut him off. **_'He's pretty much devoted the last several years of his life to his anger at some imagined slight of yours and he's hardly one for rational conversation. I suggest you finish this fast, because the longer he fights the more collateral damage he'll cause.'_**

Ranma frowned, if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was a martial artist who was indiscriminate with their attacks. In his mind, you didn't deserved to be called a martial _artist_ unless you had control and skill. He didn't consider strength to be paramount to being a good martial artist, not after having met several masters who practiced styles that revolved completely around using skill, speed, or a variety of other factors instead of strength. He had even found one style that revolved entirely around defeating enemies without attacking them, or even physically countering them. The master he had studied under had been so skilled that he was able to react to Ranma's attacks _before _he had even initiated them. But one thing they all agreed on, though not necessarily with the same words, was that a true martial artist is one able to defeat an opponent without fighting or causing damage, and the best were the ones who could win without their being a battle at all.

It had taken Ranma a while to understand what they meant, but after doing some research on his own at some of the libraries in the towns he and his father passed through - his father distracted with sake or food - he found that they were referring to Sun Tzu's teachings, and reading the Art of War had lead him to read Musashi, which lead him to becoming more interested in history. It was a bit of a shame that he was not a sword style martial artist as most of the techniques from Musashi's school were for the use of katanas, but he still had managed to pick up a few of them. He was tempted to try them out on Ryoga, but most of them he still didn't know well enough to put to actual combat use yet.

Instead, he made an act of slowly standing, his back straight and his head held high as he stared at his opponent with eyes full of painful intent. Ryoga flinched back and almost began to shake as Ranma's Ki filled gaze triggered the natural instinctual fears everyone shared. He began to back away, only to stop as he realized just what he was doing and who he was retreating from; the fear was washed away in an instant by a surge of fury.

"Ranma Saotome," the easily lost teen reached up to his forehead and peeled off one of the countless layers of cloth that wrapped around his head. His face twisted into an angry grimace as he roared at Ranma, "For making my life hell, die!"

Ranma's eyes widened as he watched the bandannas in Ryoga's hand suddenly stiffen up, only his training and a quiet warning from Amaya keeping him from getting decapitated by the sudden barrage of spinning projectiles. Leaning back to let the circular pass over his head, he heard gasps of surprise and shock from all around him. He focused his thoughts on calculating how to defeat Ryoga, now armed with the knowledge that he was able to roughly manipulate his Ki sparing a moment to look around at the crowd that had formed by those curious to the source of the explosion they had heard.

_Wait, _Ranma thought as his eyes lit up with an idea. _Ryoga has to grab more bandannas each time he throws them, and then he has to charge them with Ki, so if he can't grab any... _With a joyous grin, Ranma darted forwards. He didn't want to use his Ki enhancement unless absolutely necessary, considering the level of his future opponents according Amaya he needed as many aces in the hole as he could get, but even then his speed was still much greater than it would have been had he not fallen into Amaya's spring. Ryoga began to back up, caught off guard by Ranma's lack of fear or visible surprise and his sudden charge. Cursing under his breath, he reached down and grabbed his dropped umbrella, barely bringing it up into a guard position in time to block Ranma's open palm strike towards his chest.

Ranma smiled and Ryoga's eyes bulged out of their sockets as the attack caused the umbrella to crumple and bend, Ryoga dumping the deformed lead-filled implement as he tried to get some space between him and his opponent in order to pull out more off his bandannas. He only managed to get one off and hardened as Ranma dashed towards him again. His toss was hasty and the lack of preparedness sent it wide, neither Ranma nor Ryoga giving it a moments thought past the point that they were sure it wasn't a threat. Ranma moved in low, well beneath Ryoga's usual striking range, and once he was close enough, put his hands forward and performed an acrobatic backflip, both of his feet slamming Ryoga upside the chin and sending him skywards. Ranma bounced to his feet and leapt towards his opponent, a quick punch sending him tumbling onto a nearby empty roof.

Unfortunately Ranma didn't possess the ability to follow Ryoga's unintentional flight, and he let himself fall back to the ground before leaping onto the wall of a nearby house, using it as a stepping stone to get onto the roof where Ryoga had landed. Ryoga was ready for him, and the moment he set foot on the roof he was nearly taken out of the fight as Ryoga unleashed a wild haymaker towards his chest. Once again Ranma's training came to his rescue as his eyes took in the incoming attack and his hand rose a split-second later, his fingers tapping the back of Ryoga's fist and imparting enough extra energy to cause him to miss, the momentum from his blow carrying him past Ranma as he overextended.

His eyes widened as he was once more forced to experience Ranma's brutal strikes, this time a punishing combination of punches to his torso that ended with an empty palm to the ribs. The attack was so strong it sent him flying backwards, his feet dragging against the roof the only things keeping him from falling over the edge. He shakily got to his feet and stared incredulously at his most hated foe, Ranma twisting his neck side to side as he calmly stood across from Ryoga. Ryoga was heaving in tremendous breaths of air, wincing as his lungs pushed against, as far as he could tell, several bruised and likely cracked ribs; meanwhile Ranma looked untouched and unaffected by it all, not even his shirt having been touched by Ryoga's strikes, and his breathing just as calm as if he was still walking home.

"What," Ryoga took in another breath, only for it turn into a cough that had blood spatter the roof. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he stared at Ranma with undisguised terror. "What the hell are you?"

Ranma cocked his head to the side in consideration, as if he didn't know the answer himself. "I'm not quite sure myself anymore. I suppose I could be any number of things really. Human." Ranma took a small step forwards. "Monster." Another step. "Angel." A step slightly to the side. "Demon." Step to the opposite side. "God" He took one more step forwards and Ryoga suddenly realized that the distance between had been halved without his notice.

"But above there is one thing that I am. Do you want to know what it is?" Ryoga swallowed as a chill ran razors up and down his spine, his head bobbing nervously up and down, to Ranma's amusement. The pig-tailed teen leaned in closer, as if he was about to tell Ryoga some great and terrible secret.

"I'm the best. And don't you forget it." Ryoga, like Ranma earlier, had only a moment to recognize the fact that there was an attack heading towards him, but unlike Ranma, he was self-taught and thus lacked the skills necessary to avoid the blow. He did, in that short space of time from when Ranma began his attack to when it hit, have the time to notice that the attack was something he had never seen before, as Ranma sudden upwards snap kick should have never been able to reach from where he had stood. But Ranma didn't need to be close to Ryoga, as his foot lit up with bright azure energy that left a tenuous trail of light behind it. The kick launched a brilliant azure crescent of energy that crossed the distance between the two fighters in the blink of an eye.

The blade of Ki, Ryoga only realized the latter part just as the attack connected with his body, was not sharp, but it didn't need to be. The sheer speed it possessed, neglecting the fact that as an energy it shouldn't have had any mass and thus any definable momentum, impacted Ryoga with the force of a speeding train, leaving a line of damage running at a slight angle across his torso and over one of his legs. He felt his cracked ribs break as he was knocked backwards, leaving him with a momentary sensation of weightlessness before gravity reasserted its hold on him, bringing him crashing back to ground as consciousness finally left him.

Ranma stood at the edge of the roof looking down at the fallen and battered form of Ryoga, a contemplative look on his face. Isolating Ryoga by sending him towards the roof had allowed Ranma to unleash more of his skills than he would have had they still had observers around, but he wasn't sure if anyone had seen his last attack. He hoped that Ryoga had taken enough damage to forget it as well, because it would allow him to use again in the future in case the eternally lost boy decided to continue his feud. Ranma gave a derisive snort at the thought. From the memories he had received from Amaya after concluding the fight, there was no doubt that the other teen would be on his feet and chasing after him as soon as physically possible. It was almost a shame, since it was quite obvious to Ranma that he was miles above Ryoga skill-wise, and he was the closest competitor he had met since Jusenkyo.

He sighed and looked towards the east, towards Chiba, Juuban, and Kamakura. '_I wonder if Kasumi is up for a trip.'_ HRanma wondered as he descended from the rooftop much more gracefully Ryoga had. He spared his fallen opponent one more glance, taking in the arriving ambulance with a calculative look, before heading off towards the Tendo home. _I'm sure she wouldn't mind taking the weekend off, and she's been dying to meet up with Bell-chan. Sides, it would put Pops in twist now wouldn't it._

Plan's made, and feeling much lighter, Ranma went back to the first place he could call home in over ten years, a smile on his lips and a spring in his steps. Ryoga had certainly been a surprise for him, but like before, what was life without its surprises? Speaking of, he wondered what Kasumi had made for dinner...

* * *

Huh, Kasumi has kinda become a bit of a badass in this hasn't she? You know, I originally didn't intend for that to happen, buuuut, hey, what else can you do when inspiration hits, except to write it? Also, ditto the badassness for Ranma.

Ranma's technique that he used against Ryoga is altered Canon. No, really. The actual technique is a leaping kick with his foot covered in Ki. It's one of the techniques available to him in the Rpg for the SNES, Ranma ½: Akanekodan Teki Hihou. I just advanced it a little.

So, a good portion of inspiration for this story, mostly the interactions between Ranma and Amaya, come from Take the Green and Go, by Usagi-Hasano, and the Demon's Contract, by Ringmaster. Yes, that is _that_ Kuzuki, and yes, Furinkan is that crazy if they need a guy like him, and no, Fuyuki City is far away from Nerima, so no, there will be no others involved. As for Kasumi, her techniques, as well as her mother, are, well, it's a popular series. I blame it entirely on Gabriel Blessing(unknowingly) for giving me the idea for both her and Kuzuki with his stories though.

* * *

Spam-omake : In a somewhat Canon Universe:

Ryoga steps forward, his usual umbrella replaced for a delicate looking rapier, a serious look on his face.

"My name is Ryoga Hibiki, you killed my father, prepare to die."

Ranma stares at him for a moment before he turns and punches Genma. "What the hell did you get me into this time you idiot?"

* * *

And, now that the main part is done, I present to you, the first in a series of omakes, rather fittingly titled: "How could it possibly have been worse?" All props to Daneel Rush for permission to use his original characters to suit my mad whims.

* * *

**OMAKE It could always be worse #1 : Sayuri**

Ranma's eyes widened in shock as a giant panda leaped from the pool he had knocked his father into. "What the hell?" His eyes turned towards the guide he and his father had ignored as they came into the training grounds, grounds that Ranma was rapidly beginning to think weren't what his father had told him they'd be.

The rather portly Chinese man was speaking too quickly for Ranma to make out anything other than a few short words, something about a tragic panda and the spring, but it was enough for Ranma to realize that he didn't want to have anything to due with the abundant supply of water that filled the valley.

Unfortunately for him, that realization came a bit too late, and the split of his focus to try and listen to the guide's words meant he was paying the panda across from him too little attention. That lack of attention instantly came back to bite him in the ass as the panda leapt off the bamboo pole and delivered a textbook Anything Goes style kick to Ranma's center of mass.

The blow was so unexpected that Ranma didn't have any time to ready himself or redirect the force applied to him, the end result being an uncontrolled backwards tumble, directly into one of the pools. He felt the water close over his head, and the strangest sensation as his body felt like it was being melted and pulled in one direction and then the other, repeatedly until he felt as if he was a piece of taffy in the hands of a curious child, eager to see how many shapes he could stretch his candy into.

On the bank of the spring Genma stared down into the water with an uncharacteristic look of worry on his face, or at least as close to one as could be managed while he held the form of a panda. The Guide had come up next him, moving surprisingly quietly as he had his head buried in an old leather bound book. Finally the guide found what he was looking for and eagerly thrust the book towards the martial artist in panda form.

"Here sir, here is curse of spring you boy fall in. It Spring of Drowned Pyromaniac Loli." The guide paused for a moment as he tapped into the inherent magic of the spring. "No one know why Spring have Japanese name, or why it make Guide able to say Pyromaniac with no accent. This spring very odd like that."

Genma rolled his eyes towards the guide for a moment before a flash of movement brought them back to the spring. His face, having begun to strectch into the ursine equivalent, fell like a stone as a dainty hand - a definitely female hand - reached out of the spring. The hand grasped around in the air for a moment before it found the ground, and with a great deal of effort, the body attached to the hand began to pull itself from the spring.

Of all the things that could be said of Genma Saotome, one could not say that he did not love his son, as in his own twisted and sometimes idiotic way he was only looking to make sure that his son was the best man he could possibly be, and that was a man far better than himself. He did not want his boy to fall from the pure path to diversions and distractions like he had under the Master, he could still remember the man he once was, the man who had stolen his dear wife's heart and made her the happiest woman on the planet, before he met the Master.

He knew he had fallen far, far from the path he once walked with ease, but he knew that his recognition of the fact was a sign that not everything had been lost under a Master who would never dare let anyone equal or surpass him. Thoughts of his wife brought him back to his current dilemma, as he knew that she would certainly go through with the contract on him after what he had done to her son. There was no chance she would participate in the death of her own flesh and blood, but he, once again after the Master, had no such protection.

The little girl in front of him, who looked little more than six or seven years of age and all the weight of his travel pack, of which most was the water that soaked form, was a major problem. The red hair screamed out at him in memory of his darling wife, as did her slight form and the shade of her eyes, eyes which certainly no longer were those of his child. The guide had brought out what little hot water he had, having been making tea before the Saotomes had arrived, and used it to turn Genma back to normal before returning to his hut to heat up some more.

"Boy, are you alright?" Genma was nervous as the little girl turned her eyes curiously towards him, the innocence and childish naivety behind them something he had not seen in his own child's eyes in many years. The girl studied his face for a few moments, every one of which weighed down harder and harder on Genma as he felt the chances that his son had retained his mind during the transformation dwindle. A second of recognition flickered behind her eyes, followed quickly by another, and then another, until the eyes lit up entirely, the child's face turning into a brilliant smile as she leaped forwards and wrapped her arms as far around Genma as possible.

The man himself stood frozen. The gesture of affection was something so distantly foreign to his child, and himself after a decade away from his wife, that he had no idea how to react. The girl continued to grasp him for a moment before she relaxed her arms, leaning back with a concerned expression on her face as she noticed that Genma was not reacting as she had evidently thought he would.

"Mugyuu? Why is Oji-chan not hugging me? Did Wanma do something wong?" The girl's child-like speech further entrenched the opinion within Genma's mind that she couldn't have been too old when she had died, until the words she had spoken registered fully within his, as many would attest to, dense brain.

His eyes wide, he grasped her tightly by the shoulders, ignoring the quiet gasp of pain, and lifted her into the air in front of him. "What. Did. You. Say."

The girl pouted as she struggled in vein to escape from Genma's grip. "Aaah, Oji-chan is being mean. Wanma don't like it when Oji-chan is being mean." Her eyes narrowed and for a moment Genma felt a trickle of something cold run down his spine, though he shrugged it off and attributed the feeling to some of the water the guide had used to return his form traveling down his back.

"Meanie Oji-chan should **burn.**" And there was fire, and screaming, and property damage from the Guide's hut burning down. And it was humorous.

* * *

"Mugyuuu, where are we going again?" Genma, in human form thanks to an easily aquired rain poncho, sighed in exasperation. While keeping the fox-girl his son occasionally became from getting bored or angry was tedious, the kitsune was much more easily to lead and control. If his boy had been with him then he would have most likely been fighting him every step of the way. He smiled and turned to the girl, shuddering slightly as she stared at him with her soul-piercingly innocent gaze.

"Ranma, what's that behind you?" He almost felt pity as the girl gave him a confused blink before turning around. Sometimes, it was almost too easy.

"Waah! Pwetty Tails!" And that was what was earning him and his son-turned-daughter odd looks as they walked through downtown Nerima. While they could possibly shrug off a relative normal looking red-headed girl fighting a giant panda, a preteen girl with nine fox tails floating around behind her, a legend come to life, was impossible to ignore. At least none of them had gone and formed an angry mob, which had happened in the last three towns they had passed.

He could only hope his old friend was as accepting as the rest of the people seemed to be. He had better, otherwise he would have no option but to, *shudder*, return to Nodoka. No, his friend would accept if he knew what was good for him.

* * *

"Waai! Wanma want to help Kasumi-neechan!" Kasumi Tendo smiled beatifically at the small kitsune out of the corner of her eye as she deftly sliced up the vegetables for dinner. Unlike her sisters, she didn't cringe when the kitsune added the suffix to her name, in fact she found it rather cute and endearing. While her dear wonderful sisters may have pushed the Pact off onto her, she didn't mind. Ranma seemed to be a sweet, if somewhat naive, gentleman, and Ranma-chan reminded her strongly of her sisters, when they had all been much younger.

"Kasumi-san, are you feeling alright?" The concern, though hidden, was clear as Kasumi shook herself free of her thoughts as she turned to find Ranma, freshly returned to his male form judging by the water soaking his shirt, his eyes full of worry. She offered him a warm smile, the expression calming the teen.

"I'm fine, just lost in thought. Do you still want to help me prepare supper?" The question was reasonable, since there seemed to be a fair bit of disassociation between Ranma's two personalities.

"Of course. Even if it wasn't _me _who offered, I still offered didn't I? What kind of ma-person," Kasumi smiled at Ranma's self-correction. It had taken a fair bit of time, but she had broken his gender bias, a least slightly, and she couldn't have been prouder of his growth. He was still a bit rough around the edges, but she couldn't help but think that her sisters had missed an incredible opportunity.

Oh well, too bad for them.

"I'm making mixed ramen, would you min-" Kasumi never finished as Ranma appeared by her side, staring at the ingredients and stove with an odd intensity. Kasumi felt slightly strange as he turned and fixed her with those same eyes, those deep blue eyes, those hungering, piercing, loving eyes. A shiver rolled through her body.

"Oh, oh my..."

* * *

The school wall bulged inwards before the concrete and plaster practically exploded, only Ranma's fast reactions saving several students from being hit by pieces of shrapnel. Standing in the middle of the fast settling cloud of dust was a cloaked and hooded figure, two large maces in her, even somewhat obscured it was easy to tell the gender of the stranger, hands.

"Ranma, you I Kill!" She raised her mace and darted forward to smash it into the place Ranma had been standing in only moments before.

Ranma didn't bother trying to be diplomatic. He knew exactly why she was after him, and considering how Akane had reacted when she had suffered something similar, he wasn't too surprised by her sudden appearance. "For what you did, Die!" Although he could have done without a second Ryoga around.

Flipping through the air, his hand darted out and snagged the girl's hood, dragging it and her cloak with him. For a moment there was silence, only for it to be broken by a quickly stifled snicker. That snicker was joined by a girlish giggle, then a chuckle, until the classroom was filled with outright laughter at the bald girl standing in the middle of the room.

Even Ranma himself couldn't help the short laugh that escaped him, though his action served only to draw the girl's attention back to its original target.

"For crime of burning Xian Pu hair, DIE!"

* * *

"How," Saffron stared incredulously as his hottest flames washed over his opponent and did nothing. "How did you survive that?"

His opponent cocked their head to the side and scratched the back of their neck in confusion.

"Wanma just doing as Author-sama tell her too." Damn it, I'd hoped that trait from Sayuri hadn't carried over. Bugger. Maybe if I don't respond she'll stop. Yeah, lets try that.

Anyway, Saffron, the asshole that he was-

"Hey!"

Sorry, the giant flaming turkey that he was-

"HEY!"

The Phoenix King. Happy now?

"Much, now will you get on with it already you incompetent rube? The reader's are getting tired of you ripping off another author's style."

Alright alrig- wait, how the bloody hell are you talking to me? Only a Kitsune can do that. You shouldn't even be aware of me.

"Fool, I have long mastered the technique of Breaking through Dimensional Barriers. Breaking through the Fourth dimension was simple for one as godly as I."

Wow, I haven't seen such an ego since that blond King of Pricks from that series I recently started reading, it was, uh...

"You can't remember it, can you?"

Shut up. You know, I was going to let you show off a bit more, but you insulted me. Ranma, I hate myself for this, but, Show Me Your Moves! *Pose!*

"Hai! Wanma wanna use special technu-techini-tenicu, special move!" Wiggle Wiggle.

Oh, oh dear. I have a bad feeling about this. Anytime there's a Wiggle Wiggle, it heralds bad things.

"WRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Well. Looks like I was right. At least she didn't pull out her Kakuton Release. On the other hand, it was immensely satisfying to watch Saffron get steamrolled.

Hmm, this is why I shouldn't do things like this. But at least it's over now. Thank all the hea-

"Author-san. I too would like to have an opportunity to participate in this endeavor of yours. But please do not take me away from master for too long. He needs me, and my wonderful body."

"And I am interested as well boya. Fufufufufu."

"How cute, Setsuna-san wants to branch out in search of another boy to join herself to. How lonely she must be."

"S-shut up you insufferable giant breasted woman!"

*Backs away quickly. Sounds of arguing in the background*

...I really need to learn when to keep my bloody mouth shut. Well, at least it wasn't too bad...

...scary thought, but I dread, oh do I dread, to imagine what would have happened if... no, that belongs in the citrusy side of the net, and I do not write that. I _will _not write that.

"Yoohoo,_ author-sama~"_

Dammit to hell. Screw this, I'm done with this, later all. Before I go, Hell no Yuriyo!

"Aaah, don't be that way, _author-sama~"_

And I'm outta here...


End file.
